Long-Term Care Survey Alert

Is your facility’s dining experience meeting residents’ need for dignity (F241)? According to federal oversight surveyor Stephanie Williams, common residents complaints in this area include:

• Being called a “feeder.”
• Wearing “bibs.” Residents say they prefer to have these called “clothing protectors” or “aprons.” Williams says residents have also said they feel humiliated by having staff come up from behind them to put the clothing protectors on — or having to sit with them on for 30 minutes before a meal.
• Being treated like an object to feed during meal times. Williams recounted one elderly resident who told her wistfully, “I want staff not to just help me eat. I want them to enjoy my friendship during the meal.”
• Feeling excluded from the dining room because they are disabled or need too much assistance to eat. Some residents have told surveyors that their facility’s dining room seems to be only for the “well elderly.” This should be a consideration in how a facility presents its rehabilitation dining program to residents and families.