Assisted Living Regulations Inadequate for Alaska's Aging Population (ALASKA)

Assisted Living Regulations Inadequate for Alaska's Aging Population

The administrators in charge of running good assisted living homes say the regulations alone aren't enough to deter elder abuse.

By Andrea Gusty

09/14/2010

There are more than 2,000 pages of regulations guiding the more than 600 assisted living homes in Alaska.

"It looks very good on paper," said Theresa Brisky, executive administrator at Marlow Manor, and also a registered nurse. "And I understand that, that the state needs to make sure their plan looks good. The problem is, sometimes it's not realistic it doesn't transfer realistically in the care world. It is actually taking away versus giving to the residents," said Brisky.

The administrators in charge of running those homes say the regulations alone aren't enough to deter elder abuse.

"A lot of the criteria is based on the height of the window, whether you have a fire extinguisher, [whether] you have the right paper work on the wall; it really doesn't address care as an industry. We have gone around and around lets have some standards in our industry there's no real standards," said Greg Cress, owner of Sue's Sourdough Assisted Living

Without industry standards, finding a good assisted living home can be a crapshoot.

"Most people have good intentions. Some people get caught up in the money and don't care for their clients-that's when you see the abuse," said Leslee Orebaugh, administrator at Parkside & Rosewood Assisted Living.

And without change things could get worse.

Alaska has one of the fastest growing elderly populations in the nation. We're living longer, and in most cases, are having more severe health problems toward the end of life.

"The state and hospitals and a lot of other people are trying to force them into assisted living homes when they don't have many choices. The good homes are full. There's other homes, there's beds here you've got to get them, they can't live on their own, so they end up in a home like that," said Cress.

These administrators say there is more than enough blame to go around for elder abuse, but it could be prevented if there were tougher care regulations in the beginning.

"I think if the state could be more stringent and not just allow anyone the opportunity to open a home because to me it seems like they are doing the weeding out afterwards," Brisky said.

"Maybe they should look a little bit more on whether or not someone knows whether their window is the right height and perhaps come down to whether or not they know how to really care for someone," said Sherry Mettler, administrator at Northern Lighthouse Assisted Living.

Stronger regulations for care could mean all assisted living homes would be a safe and caring place for Alaskans to live out the end of their lives.

"That's how you know a good assisted living home-it's not what someone drives [or] where someone lives. It's about the residents and their families calling the place that you provide home," said Mary Jo Mettler of Northern Lighthouse & Parkside Assisted Living.

State agencies do recognize there is a problem and are looking at changing the rules that regulate Alaska's assisted living homes.

SOURCE:     KTVA
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