Recently, the Seattle Times newspaper began a series of reports, entitled "Seniors for Sale," by reporter Michael Berens, on abuse and neglect of elderly residents in adult family homes in Washington. Some find it shocking that the owners of these facilities need only 48 hours of training - and some manage to bypass it - while their staff members get 35 hours.
Washington voters in 2008 overwhelmingly approved increasing training for long-term care workers to 75 hours, and requiring criminal background checks, but the state has put off implementing Initiative 1029 because of budget problems. Nancy Dapper, executive director of the Alzheimer's Association of Western and Central Washington, says she's not surprised by the sad cases detailed in the articles.
"If you don't invest in the system, and have the right training for workers and the right regulatory environment and enforcement by the state, the stories are what happens every day."
Dapper says at least half the people in long-term care have some form of dementia and multiple medical problems that make specialized training important. She is concerned that frail seniors are too quickly overlooked when state dollars are tight.
"This affects everybody. So, if you've got a mom, a dad, a grandma, I'm telling you, you're going to want to know that you have a state system that has the right level of regulation and the right level of enforcement. And I think you're willing to pay it, when it's your own relative."
Dapper believes the state has the right idea for its long-term care system by keeping people in home settings as much as possible as they age, but only if training and follow-up is sufficient to keep them safe.
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