Nursing Home Transitioning Drawbacks
By Bobbie Fields
While working on the MCIL (Memphis Center for Independent Living) transition team, I have encountered many road blocks. The sad thing is that all of the problems come from our state, local and community organizations who are supposed to have the consumer’s best interest at heart.
The social workers in the nursing homes are supposed to assist the consumer in getting documents, equipment and services that they need but instead they are telling them they can’t live on their own or they don’t qualify for the services because of something they can’t do, even though they’ve never ask the consumer themselves.
I have had home health agencies agree to provide services only to turn right around and resend their services because of what the nursing home social worker has said.
The nursing home doctors have refused to sign release forms even after the consumer regular doctor says they are able to live on their own.
The biggest disappointment is the wavier program. It was supposed to give consumers more of a chance to stay in their home rather than a nursing home. The way the wavier program is set up, you almost have to not need waiver services, to get it.
When a consumer does qualify for the waiver program, it is hard to get the services to start on the same day that a person is released from the nursing home. It’s like you have to have home based services in place before you can go home but you can’t get the services started unless you’re at home!!!
If you or someone you know has a friend or family member in a nursing home who want to get out but have been running into these types of problem, we would like to hear from you. Please call us at (901) 726-6404 and ask for Christina Cliff; ext. 108 or Bobbie Fields; ext. 112. You can also reach us through our website; www.mcil.org.
MCIL Journal Index 2008
| Date | Name |
|---|---|
| 5/22/2008 | Long Term Care Community Choices Act of 2008. |
| 3/18/2008 | Bredesen's Proposal for Long Term Care |
| 2/10/2008 | MCIL Comments on the Tennessee Community Choices Act |
| 1/29/2008 | Gov. Bredesen Highlights the Tennessee Community Choices Act |
| 1/24/2008 | Tennessee Community Choices Act |
| 1/21/2008 | The ADAPT Community Poster |
| 1/3/2008 | Nursing Home Trasition Drawbacks |
