Mentally ill people ages 22 to 64 make up 9 percent of the nation’s 1.4 million nursing home residents, a number that has climbed 6 percent since 2002. That increase is attributed to the closing of state mental institutions and a shortage of hospital psychiatric beds.

Allowing mentally ill patients, many with a history of aggression toward others, to live in nursing homes with the elderly has had tragic results. In 2003, a 23-year-old woman was accused of starting a fire in the nursing home where she lived, which killed 16 fellow residents. The woman was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed to a mental institution.

Earlier this year, a 21-year-old nursing home resident diagnosed with bipolar disorder with aggression was charged with raping a 69-year-old resident. Seventy-seven-year-old nursing home resident Ivory Jackson died a brutal death when his mentally ill roommate – 30 years his junior – bashed his face in with a clock radio.

“Sadly, we’re seeing the tragic results of the failure of federal and state governments to provide appropriate treatment and housing for those with mental illnesses and to provide a safe environment for the frail elderly,” said Janet Wells, director of public policy for the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, to the Associated Press.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Mentally ill threaten safety of nursing home patients

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The employee is accused of calling residents names such as “crack head,” cursing at them, borrowing money from then and even selling food to them from her nearby apartment. She berated residents for sitting down for meals at the wrong time and was described by residents as “rude and loud.”

An investigation by state inspectors led to the firing of the allegedly abusive employee.

Unlike most assisted living residents, many of the residents of Caring and Sharing Home for Adults require state grants to cover living costs above and beyond what their social security covers. Not only are several residents considered poor, many suffer from mental disabilities, making them easy targets for abuse.

The state would not give an overall assessment on the status of the home and a representative from the facility refused to comment.

Steve Lambert with the social services division of licensing programs said the downsizing of the state’s mental health facilities has left more mentally ill people with fewer choices in treatment homes. “These residents are finding themselves in these facilities,” Lambert was quoted in the story, “and unfortunately they (the facilities) are probably less equipped to handle the range of disabilities, and they don’t have sufficient financial resources to meet these needs.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Assisted living employee fired for verbal abuse

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It seemed as if there was no one else to care for them.

A recent investigation has revealed that the residents there were subjected to deplorable living conditions, resulting in the nursing home closing and the Cincinnati Health Department being stripped of its ability to license and inspect skilled nursing homes and residential-care facilities, according to the Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer.

It all began last February when Cincinnati police officer Aaron Layton dropped by the facility in search of a suspect. He didn’t find the person he was looking for, but what he did find stopped him in his tracks. The condition of the home was sickening.

Officer Layton got a search warrant and returned 16 days later with other investigators and officers in tow. They were shocked at what they found: exposed wires, leaking sewage, soiled and torn mattresses, vomit on the floor, broken toilets, unqualified employees, improperly stored drugs and people languishing in their own waste.

“There was no compassion, no sympathy for people who were living in these conditions,” says Councilwoman Laketa Cole. “The very people you’d expect to be a proponent for them, failed them.”
The Ohio Department of Health reportedly inspected the facility in January and found 10 deficiencies. Just eight days before the raid in March, the state had cleared the facility of seven of the 10 problems cited, the Enquirer stated.

After months of debate, the City Council concluded city health inspectors had failed to protect the residents and ordered the city’s health department’s licensure and inspection responsibilities be handed over to the state.

Facilities administrator Abe Fischer could serve jail time because of 27 alleged building and fire code violations. He could learn as early as next week if the residential-care facility will lose its city license. The state began fining Fischer this spring – a bill that has reached more than $100,000 – and mandated that he no longer take on new Medicaid cases, according to the story.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Health department stripped of nursing home responsibilities

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