With another summer over and gone, we’re all going back to school and back to our regular work routines, but every summer, many of us take time out of our busy schedules and go on vacation. Maybe your family goes to the beach, or to the mountains; maybe you even travel the world. Some families go on vacation during the off-season to avoid the crowds.
However it happens, vacations are times for families to reunite and spend time together, to take a break from their usual routines.
Ideally, this would include those family members who are living in a nursing home facility. However, many of the elderly have mobility restrictions or other issues that prevent them from going on extended trips.
So how do good nursing homes handle these limitations?
In the world of professional advocacy, there’s a term called Social Role Valorization (SRV). It’s a big fancy phrase, but it’s really a simple fundamental idea. SRV is the idea that you try to enhance the lives of people with disabilities, by putting yourselves in their shoes and trying to maximize their ability to make choices despite any limitations that they have.
How does this look in a nursing home facility?
First off, the nursing home staff will make every effort to give the nursing home residents options. This might mean providing a wheelchair-equipped van for family outings, having counseling services on hand, or having dedicated staff to wheelchair residents out into the sun on a nice day.
But for the best nursing homes, social role valorization is more than what they do. It’s a philosophy – it means that leaders will always be thinking about the weakest and most vulnerable, whether those are residents or employees or anyone else. It means they will be looking for ways to help the disadvantaged to overcome their disadvantages, and it plays out in all sorts of different ways that give nursing home residents and their caregivers better quality of life. When there’s a corporate “care culture” in place, nursing home abuse and neglect have less room to flourish.
Unfortunately, on the flip side of the coin, you have nursing home facilities that do not advocate for the residents. In a chaotic and unchecked environment, nursing home abuse absolutely can happen. Bad apples on the staff roster can lead to things getting out of hand, and nursing home residents being in harm’s way.
If you have any questions about the rights of nursing home residents or the welfare of an elderly family member, contact Steve Watrel, a trusted Jacksonville Florida nursing home attorney. Our legal office is very experienced at helping Jacksonville area families to understand what may be happening to their loved ones – and what they can do about it in a court of law. We understand that it’s not a case of being overly punitive – that senior citizens need both relational advocates and skilled professionals in their corners to help them fight various forms of nursing home abuse and neglect. Call for a consultation about your concerns and questions, and we can help you figure out how to address any situation that has you worried.
