March 14, 2023

In this Issue:

1. Webinar on How Inadequate Staffing Impacts the Lives of Nursing Home Residents
2. Materials Available from Webinar on What It's Like to Work in an Understaffed Long-Term Care Facility
3. New Booklet on Residents' Rights and Facility Responsibilities in Avoiding Drugs Used as Chemical Restraints

Webinar on How Inadequate Staffing Impacts The Lives of Nursing Home Residents

Join Consumer Voice for a webinar, as a part of our Dignity for All: Staffing Standards Now! campaign, highlighting the experience of nursing home residents.  Join us Thursday, March 23rd at 2:00pm ET as residents share, in their own words, how living in a facility with inadequate staffing affects their quality of life and the quality of care that they receive, and what it would mean for their lives to live in a facility with enough staff.

Register Now

Share Your Voice
What does it mean to live or work in a nursing home with inadequate staffing? What would a minimum staffing standard mean to you? Take our survey to share your (or your loved ones') experience.

Materials Available from Webinar on What It's Like to Work in an Understaffed Long-Term Care Facility

The recording and materials are available from last week's webinar - Dignity for All: Quality Jobs, Quality Care. Consumer Voice held a discussion with members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to discuss what it is like to work in an understaffed facility and what a minimum staffing standard would mean to direct care staff in nursing homes.

Get the Materials

New Booklet on Residents' Rights and Facility Responsibilities in Avoiding Drugs Used as Chemical Restraints

All nursing home residents have the right to quality, individualized, person-centered care that respects their needs, choices, preferences and routines. This includes when antipsychotic drugs are considered for use. Too often, individuals living with dementia are prescribed off-label antipsychotic medications instead of being provided quality care to meet their needs. These drugs have been found to increase the risk of harm or death for elderly patients with dementia.

Consumer Voice is releasing a new booklet, developed as result of our work on Avoiding Drugs as Chemical Restraints Consumer Education Campaign, which was in partnership with AARP Foundation.  The booklet provides information and tips on having clear communication with long-term care providers, ensuring that resident needs are met, how to provide nonpharmacological interventions, what to do if an antipsychotic drug has been prescribed, and residents' rights regarding antipsychotic drugs.

Get the Booklet.