Ageism and Attitudes

Being part of an experience of the daily activities of an elderly care system provided me with knowledge of the operations of the Visiting Angels facility in Sacramento. The experience allowed me to gain insights into abuse and neglect of the elderly in facilities including loopholes in place that provide room for these vices to exist. On a three day presence at the Visiting Angels Home Care in Sacramento, I was privy to activities in the institution including the conduct of the staff and the environment of care provided to the elderly. The academic resource below reports on the experience had at the Visiting Angels elderly care facility first providing the overview of the experience followed by identification of problems including other problems possibly experienced at elderly cares that indicate abuse and neglect.

The report culminates with solutions that can possibly help arrest the problem. Given this, Visiting Angels provide an ideal environment for care to the elderly. Problems Identified and Other Problems through Scholarly Works In seeking to identify the problem to bridge the gap between the cases reported and the quality of healthcare, Visiting Angels was examined with the following problems and loopholes that can lead to abuse and neglect identified; One of the main loopholes provided for possibilities of abuse on the elderly was the absence of supervision on caregivers especially those visiting patients in their homes. The poor supervision of the caretakers allows them room for self-administration when dealing with the elderly in their homes. Also, the absence of CCTV’s in some places in the facility also provided dark areas in which abuse can be perpetrated with ineffective monitoring systems registering activities at the facility.

The laxity in policies ranging from their development and implementation also provided a loophole that caregivers can exercise to perpetrate abuse and neglect. In combating the growing problem as also evidenced in Visiting Angels in Sacramento, changes in policies have been fronted as appropriate. Measures to enhance effective implementation approaches have also been fronted with suggestions on improvement of the leadership of these facilities to facilitate management of policy frameworks. The development of policies and legislation related to the conduct of persons handling the aged will serve to instill a sense of responsibility in them which in turn will determine right from wrong and what is socially acceptable. In cases under the nursing care homes, the presence of policies and legislation will influence the conduct and ethics of workers.

Those that act in line with the regulations and policies will feature as ethical in comparison to those that will act in a manner that shows neglect and abuse of the elderly that should suffer punishment including possible cancellation of their contracts. Seeking to emphasize a feedback system that allows those under the care and their family members to constantly provide reviews of the caregivers handling them will provide a constant monitoring effect on the caregivers reducing possibilities of abuse and neglect. Lastly, offering training to the attendants and briefing the elders and their family members on their rights on admission will provide an appropriate approach to reducing possibilities of cases of abuse and neglect occurring. Works Cited Phelan, Amanda. "Protecting care home residents from mistreatment and abuse: on the need for policy.