RESIDENT-CENTERED CARE

Resident-Centered Care

 ---I wrote an article about R-C Care about 5 years ago. The main thrust of what I had written was that R-C Care is something that is different in every case. I am NOT speaking of the needed medical treatment that each resident is involved with to treat his case, because frankly I don’t know about that. I’m talking to the resident as an individual that thrives when he gets that kind of personal attention that he needs.

---The necessary care should be hashed out in every case (with his/her care team) to give the individual the kind of care that HE needs. There is NOT a blanket way to treat people, because folks are individual and respond so differently. Now…we have a care team projecting what they think a resident should want to be happy and cannot understand why this isn’t working. The resident becomes excluded from the whole process. The staff ends up making the decisions and leaves out the resident, still. In my opinion, the resident should lead (where warranted) and improving his decision-making skills and abilities be the objective. The resident would go from a self-loathing to self-acceptance, eventually, and be a happier and more well individual.

---It is very budget-centered and was five years ago. Even so, the priority seems to be to create an image that all-is-well when in fact they should be concentrating on improving the well-being of the resident/patients and making the relationship(s) better  between those on the staff and the residents. Then, truly, all would be well. In my estimation, when they get the resident piece correct, which doesn’t seem anytime soon, they will watch other pieces fall into place.

---I don’t blame any one person for it being the way it is. There is a huge gap between the way the staff sees things and the way the resident sees things. The communication has improved a lot in the eight years that I have been living at LHH. But, they are really not committed to make things right. Focus is lost very quickly and there are far too many self-interest agencies to please. The staff is too understaffed at times and the micromanaging is very inconsistent. A staff person once told me in fact that only thing that is consistent about Laguna Honda is the inconsistencies.

---One person tells you, you are doing well, while another is trying to adjust the way you look so you’ll be more presentable. You are told you’re getting fat by your dietician while being fed donuts by your nurse. These are only examples and made to hide identities.