Over the past several years nursing homes have been the dumping grounds for the mentally ill. Under federal law, nursing homes are off limits to the mentally ill unless the state determines the individual needs the high level of care that a nursing home provides. The state is responsible for the screening process.
According to a report supplied to the Associated Press, which was compiled by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, nearly 125,000 young and middle-aged adults with serious mental illness lived in nursing homes last year.
This is an increase of 41% from 2002. Younger mentally ill people now make up 9% of all nursing home residents. This is up from 6% in 2002. This is a recipe for disaster.
Every year, there are numerous attacks by younger mentally ill residents on frail elderly residents often resulting in serious injury and death. While the staff at nursing homes are trained to care for the sick and frail they are often not trained to deal with the mentally ill. As a result, elderly residents are often left unsupervised with younger mentally ill residents.
Elderly patients often live in fear with no place to go except to escape to the privacy of their own rooms. They are afraid to mingle with the other residents especially if there are individuals screaming and yelling day and night. The lack of hospital psychiatric beds and the nursing homes’ desire to fill empty beds are part of the reason for the increase of mentally ill individuals in nursing homes. This is no excuse.
If these are the primary reasons for commingling the two, then we need more funding for the mentally ill. Both the mentally ill and the elderly need our protection. Our lawmakers need to ensure both have respect and dignity and receive the best possible care. Each have their special and unique needs.
Contact your lawmakers and let them know about your concerns and ask them to enact laws to protect the elderly and the mentally ill.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
