How is it that an assisted living facility can ban nurses aides from assisting its residents in the main dining room? If the client needs help from a nurses aide in order to eat the client must be taken to a separate dining room. I suspect why it is being done. Do others have an opinion on this?
This is good for long-time residents who decline. They can stay were they are comfortable, in familiar surrounding, with familiar people to socialize with, aides and caregivers they know, etc. To the extent that the extra services are charged and paid for, it is good for the care center. But it may be less happy for new residents or residents who don't decline.
"Hey, I'm paying for assisted living. If I wanted to be in a nursing home environment, that is what I would have signed up for! If you are going to have people here who need nursing home services can't you at least keep it discrete?"
Hmmm ...
When my husband was in a rehab center and I went with him to meals, it turned my stomach to see some of the feeding practices. One woman couldn't swallow, but she chewed up her food and spit it into her glass. Every mouthful. Others had to be coaxed to eat. Hearing "Open your mouth wide, Mary, here comes your mashed peas" over and over tends to be a conversation killer. My husband (who could feed himself) was so distraught by all this chaos he couldn't eat at all. One perceptive staff person suggested that he might like to have his meal in the then-empty lounge, "away from the commotion."
I suppose it sounds insensitive and politically incorrect, but if a certain level of decorum is promised for the dining room experience, then perhaps having residents who need to be hand fed (especially if that is outside of the usual scope of care level for the facility) in a separate setting for eating is a way to accommodate needs of both populations.
I hope the need-to-be-hand-fed room is just as nice as the main dining room, with table linens, centerpieces, pictures on the wall, etc. I hope these individuals are not treated as second-class citizens.
I guess I could argue either side on this one. But my first question is, are residents expected to be able to feed themselves when they sign up for this place? Or is feeding residents one of the choices on the menu of services? Is the separate-but-equal dining room policy explained up front?
Have you asked the reason? I would be interested in how they explain it.
Hopefully when the able bodied folks are bannished from the main eating area because they are no longer "acceptable for public view" they won't miss their friends or feel resentful because they pay just as much to live there as the other still acceptable residents. Thanks for the answers everyone. I just needed to throw that out there.
The way to find out would simply be to ask. No point in harboring suspicions -- just find out.