McCoy, Kevin,
Havens for Elderly May Expose Them to Deadly Risks. Kevin McCoy and Barbara Hansen. - USA Today, 2004. - SIRS Enduring Issues 2005. Article 57, Family, 1522-3213; .
Articles Contained in SIRS Enduring Issues 2005. Originally Published: Havens for Elderly May Expose Them to Deadly Risks, May 24, 2004; pp. n.p..
"When Louis Critelli's 91-year-old aunt starting forgetting to take her heart medication, he knew she couldn't live on her own anymore. Fiercely independent, Vincenzia Rinaldi wouldn't consider a home health aide or nursing home. So Critelli coaxed the widowed homemaker into assisted living, the nation's growing long-term care option for the elderly. For $1,100 a month, Rinaldi became the reluctant resident of an efficiency unit where she could still simmer her much-loved tomato sauce, and where caregivers would make sure she took her pills. Instead, 30 months later, she died. Not because she was old. But because aides at her new home, Loretto Utica Center, one of the modern, hotel-style facilities that have sprouted across the country over the past decade, mistakenly gave her another resident's prescription medication. That error led to her death, state inspectors concluded." (USA TODAY) This article reviews the results of the USA TODAY investigation that showed "that Rinaldi's death represents the tragic extreme in a pattern of mistakes and violations that lead to scores of injuries and occasional deaths among the estimated 1 million elderly residents of assisted living facilities."
1522-3213;
Background checks
Congregate housing
Employee screening
Employees--Training of
Medication errors
Older people--Health risk assessment
Older people--Long-term care
Older people with disabilities
Risk assessment
AC1.S5
050
Havens for Elderly May Expose Them to Deadly Risks. Kevin McCoy and Barbara Hansen. - USA Today, 2004. - SIRS Enduring Issues 2005. Article 57, Family, 1522-3213; .
Articles Contained in SIRS Enduring Issues 2005. Originally Published: Havens for Elderly May Expose Them to Deadly Risks, May 24, 2004; pp. n.p..
"When Louis Critelli's 91-year-old aunt starting forgetting to take her heart medication, he knew she couldn't live on her own anymore. Fiercely independent, Vincenzia Rinaldi wouldn't consider a home health aide or nursing home. So Critelli coaxed the widowed homemaker into assisted living, the nation's growing long-term care option for the elderly. For $1,100 a month, Rinaldi became the reluctant resident of an efficiency unit where she could still simmer her much-loved tomato sauce, and where caregivers would make sure she took her pills. Instead, 30 months later, she died. Not because she was old. But because aides at her new home, Loretto Utica Center, one of the modern, hotel-style facilities that have sprouted across the country over the past decade, mistakenly gave her another resident's prescription medication. That error led to her death, state inspectors concluded." (USA TODAY) This article reviews the results of the USA TODAY investigation that showed "that Rinaldi's death represents the tragic extreme in a pattern of mistakes and violations that lead to scores of injuries and occasional deaths among the estimated 1 million elderly residents of assisted living facilities."
1522-3213;
Background checks
Congregate housing
Employee screening
Employees--Training of
Medication errors
Older people--Health risk assessment
Older people--Long-term care
Older people with disabilities
Risk assessment
AC1.S5
050