Senior Corner BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
Nursing home consumers need to
be informed about resident rights
Every nursing home must provide suffi cient staffi ng and services to ensure that residents attain and
maintain their well-being. Getty Images
SENIOR CORNER: HOW TO DETECT AND PREVENT SUMMER SCAMMERS
Welcome to the Brooklyn
Senior Corner.
In each issue we provide
older Brooklyn residents with information,
tips, and resources available
to them in the community.
This issue, the focus is on Summer
Safety Tips. Summer weather
is great for enjoying time with family
and friends. By taking a few precautions,
problems such as dehydration,
sunburn, and heat stroke can
be avoided. Here are a few tips to
follow to make sure you have a fun,
safe summer.
• Limit Your Sun Exposure:
Wear sunscreen & sunglasses.
4 ONE BROOKLYN | SUMMER 2019
Also, light colored and loose-fi tting
clothing can protect you & your skin
from the sun.
• Stay Cool: The sun is very intense
during the middle of the day.
Most NYC Senior Centers are designated
cooling centers that provide
nutritious meals, health and wellness
activities, and a great way to
meet new friends. Call the NYC information
line at 311 to fi nd the senior
center in your neighborhood.
• Stay Hydrated: Drink 6-8
glasses of water a day to stay hydrated.
Increase your water intake
if you plan on any physical
activity or if the temperature is
extremely high. Always carry a
water bottle with you whenever
you go outdoors.
It’s Summer and Scammers
are Targeting Seniors!
Since many seniors stay indoors
to beat the heat, scammers take advantage
and attempt to reach them
via TV, radio, the internet, and
phone. If a senior should answer the
phone and hear a Robocaller, they
should not stay on the line.
They should hang up immediately,
without answering any questions
or giving out any personal information
or any Medicare number.
Call the NYS Senior Medicare Patrol
(SMP) at 800-333-4374. They can
help with what to do next.
Have a wonderful summer!
Approximately half of all older
adults will need nursing home
care at some point. This is especially
true for the growing numbers
of individual and families affected by
Alzheimer’s Disease or other types
of dementia. Because of this need, it
is vital that every nursing home adhere
to standards of care for quality,
safety, and dignity.
Under the federal Nursing Home
Reform Law, every licensed nursing
home must follow certain quality of
care and quality of life requirements.
Most importantly, each home must
provide suffi cient staffi ng and services
to ensure that residents attain
and maintain their highest practicable
physical, mental, and psychosocial
well-being. Unfortunately, despite the
Law’s strong resident protections, the
lack of state and federal enforcement
against defi cient nursing homes has
created an environment that too often
places residents at risk of pain, suffering,
and humiliation.
Because of these persistent problems,
seniors and their families need
to be careful about choosing a nursing
home and, once they are in a facility,
vigilant about ensuring quality care
and a decent quality of life.
The Long Term Care Community
Coalition (LTCCC) is a non-profi t organization
dedicated to improving
care and protecting vulnerable residents
through advocacy in New York,
Albany, and Washington, D.C.
While we don’t have the capacity
to help with individual cases, we
have a number of resources on our
website, www.NursingHome411.
org, that can help support your resident
centered advocacy. These include
(1) Fact Sheets on dementia
care, antipsychotic drugging, pressure
ulcers, staffing; (2) Tools for
record-keeping and to track concerns
about care; and (3) Information
on care staffing levels for nursing
homes across the city, state, and
country. All resources are free to
use and share.
To sign-up for updates, please
email info@ltccc.org or call (212) 385-
0355.
/BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
link
/www.NursingHome411
/www.NursingHome411
link
