Advocating for our clients in Nursing homes during this pandemic has been uniquely difficult, but we continue to utilize whatever tools are at our disposal to help the family members oversee the delivery of care to their loved ones. Many rights are guaranteed, and right now much creativity is needed to protect those rights. Care plan conferences with the treatment team (nursing, dietary, recreation, physical therapy, medical) can be set up in which the family member/ health care representative/ POA (and the attorney, if desired) are on a conference call. Dietary staff can communicate with family about menu selections at the start of the week, using scans or faxes + emails.  It is important to monitor diet because the lack of communal eating and snacking may be causing significant weight loss in residents.

Arrangements can be made for the resident to be brought down to the Lobby so that the concerned health care proxy/involved family member can actually see them through the glass windows or doors. Arrangements can be made for nursing staff to call the family at scheduled times with a report from the shift.  As the weather warms, facilities should be scheduling outdoor visits with family on a regular basis.

Access to the medical record can be arranged, and state law requires the facility to provide access to records to the resident and their authorized requester. Ordinarily, a patient’s advocate/family member who has HIPAA authorization can review the chart during their visit to the nursing facility, in order to stay up to date with the care that’s being delivered, how the resident is functioning, whether there were any incidents and what medications the person is taking. Right now, no third parties are allowed on the premises of the skilled nursing facilities. Since the facility is obligated to keep the families informed about the condition of the resident, creativity and cooperation are needed. Have a discussion with the administrator about a reasonably convenient way that the facility can send this information out – perhaps once a week via fax or scan.

Updates on the COVID-19 situation as it affects seniors and those who care for them can be found here and here.  Many towns have put special programs in place to provide support for frail and housebound community members who are suffering due to the pandemic. The local Aging & Disability Resource Centers can also be useful as an access point for information and services, even though service delivery is not swift during these times.

For help with your unique senior care legal problems, call us at … 732-382-6070

 A post by Linda Ershow-Levenberg, Esq. for Fink Rosner Ershow-Levenberg Blog.

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