Highlights of the Kentucky Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program - 2009

Highlights of the LTCOP in 2009:

The Kentucky Long-Term Care Ombudsman operates with 3 Full-Time State Staff that oversee the program. There are a total of 15 District Ombudsman located across the state in the Area Development Districts.

Kentucky Ombudsmen visit residents and investigate complaints in the 307 Nursing Facilities and 264 Board and Care (Personal Care Homes and Family Care Homes) throughout the state.

The program is dependent on recruiting and retaining volunteers to assist with visiting residents, completing complaint investigations, and participating in advisory councils. The Kentucky LTCOP has a total of 294 volunteers. The volunteers consist of Certified Ombudsman Volunteers, Friendly Visitors, and Advisory Council Members.

The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program opened 4,362 Cases.

Kentucky Long-Term Care Ombudsmen investigated 6,274 complaints. Of these complaints 4,663 were verified which means that it was determined after work (interviews, record inspection, observation etc.) that the circumstances described in the complaint were generally accurate.

The vast majority (4,074) of the complaints were resolved or partially resolved to the resident’s satisfaction.

Staff spent 5,805 hours conducting these investigations.

Staff participated in 893 facility surveys.

Ombudsman Staff and Ombudsman Volunteers completed 12,850 visits to residents in facilities.

Ombudsman Staff provided 1,714 consultations to facility staff. Most frequently discussed topics include Resident Rights, Ombudsman Services, Discharge/Transfer, and Disaster Planning.

Staff received 3,843 inquiries from individuals asking for information related to residential long-term care issues. Most frequently discussed issues include Long Term Care Selection Assistance, Benefits/Rights/Regulations, and Complaint Process.

Staff completed 116 in-service training sessions to staff of long-term care facilities. Resident rights and Elder Abuse were the main topics for these trainings.

Staff either conducted or participated in 1,045 community education sessions. These include meetings with community groups, students, churches as well as distributing information at health fairs and other conferences mainly attended by senior citizens or individuals with disabilities.

Staff attended or provided assistance to 714 resident and family council meetings.