I know about this abuse since I used to work in a State Psychiatric Institution back in the 80's as a Speech Pathologiest. I was not working there when the institutions were closed but heard the patients were released to the streets. And that was just as bad for many of the patients I saw who were there for so long. (One I worked with and her sister were both there for schizophrenia most likely bc as young children they were used to entertain their father's friends. ( He was a distinctive lawyer in the state). I can't imagine the one I worked with being able to mange living on the streets at all. She would have not lasted a week.
You are right about the abuse. I saw it and had to counter it when I was on a wing and a patient was tied to four posts of the bed naked for acting up in a shower. I was shocked anyone would be treated that way. The least the staff could have done was cover her with a blanket! I had to find a blanket myself and cover her. The patient thanked me. I reported staff on ward to upper management but probably to no avail,
Unfortunately, abuse is rampant in institutions of all kinds (nursing homes and even day care centers come to mind) when families are not involved. I have also worked in these, but the abuse is more likely from one individual than the whole.
I have also worked in good nursing homes where the patients are treated like family. Sometimes a good nursing home may have one wing that is bad bc the head nurse is not very good.
There is NO good solution when people are evil and do not have any morals.
When people bring this up, I respond by saying "ok, that was over half a century ago. Apparently, it didn't work out so well. What is our excuse?"
I say "our" on purpose. First, because it is true - we are part of a community - and second, it takes away the wiggle room to play smug. No, you don't get a pass on this where you get to wag your fingers without at least offering solutions.
Yes, you did. I was too quick in my writing my response. For that, I apologize. (I live in CA and I have heard the Reagan's fault argument for years which gets on my nerves, so I was reacting to your initial point; forgive my pre-coffee typing.)
As far as a solution, you are right, in that it is not an easy one. I do think institutions of some sort need to be brought back onto play, but rather than turning it over to the state completely, the family needs to have some oversight and 'skin in the game'. In part, because we need to acknowledge and respect that individual families may not have the resources, either financially and/or emotionally to deal with these difficulties, but that does not mean they should surrender their power to advocate on behalf of their loved one.
No, they may not hold ABC degree, but the person holding ABC degree doesn't know the person. On the other hand, there are also a number of people who are willing to dump their family member and wipe their hands of responsibility which is wrong.
I read something yesterday that the problem with public health is they tend to view problems and solutions from the lens of populations and overlook the fact that populations are made up of individuals. I think this is where a lot of the problems we currently have stem from. I would like to see a joint partnership where power AND responsibility are shared. Checks and balances, so to speak.
Would this work? I think it would take some tweaking, but I don't see how it can be worse than what we have now. I would also want to see a definition of success. And a willingness to say if success is not met, we revisit; we don't constantly try to put the square peg in the round hole and say the reason it is not working is there just isn't enough funding.
I know about this abuse since I used to work in a State Psychiatric Institution back in the 80's as a Speech Pathologiest. I was not working there when the institutions were closed but heard the patients were released to the streets. And that was just as bad for many of the patients I saw who were there for so long. (One I worked with and her sister were both there for schizophrenia most likely bc as young children they were used to entertain their father's friends. ( He was a distinctive lawyer in the state). I can't imagine the one I worked with being able to mange living on the streets at all. She would have not lasted a week.
You are right about the abuse. I saw it and had to counter it when I was on a wing and a patient was tied to four posts of the bed naked for acting up in a shower. I was shocked anyone would be treated that way. The least the staff could have done was cover her with a blanket! I had to find a blanket myself and cover her. The patient thanked me. I reported staff on ward to upper management but probably to no avail,
Unfortunately, abuse is rampant in institutions of all kinds (nursing homes and even day care centers come to mind) when families are not involved. I have also worked in these, but the abuse is more likely from one individual than the whole.
I have also worked in good nursing homes where the patients are treated like family. Sometimes a good nursing home may have one wing that is bad bc the head nurse is not very good.
There is NO good solution when people are evil and do not have any morals.
You are right. Reagan simply gave the responsibility and funding to the states and they took the money and closed the institutions.
So much for the local social workers the Left is always saying they want to use to replace cops.
When people bring this up, I respond by saying "ok, that was over half a century ago. Apparently, it didn't work out so well. What is our excuse?"
I say "our" on purpose. First, because it is true - we are part of a community - and second, it takes away the wiggle room to play smug. No, you don't get a pass on this where you get to wag your fingers without at least offering solutions.
Yes, you did. I was too quick in my writing my response. For that, I apologize. (I live in CA and I have heard the Reagan's fault argument for years which gets on my nerves, so I was reacting to your initial point; forgive my pre-coffee typing.)
As far as a solution, you are right, in that it is not an easy one. I do think institutions of some sort need to be brought back onto play, but rather than turning it over to the state completely, the family needs to have some oversight and 'skin in the game'. In part, because we need to acknowledge and respect that individual families may not have the resources, either financially and/or emotionally to deal with these difficulties, but that does not mean they should surrender their power to advocate on behalf of their loved one. No, they may not hold ABC degree, but the person holding ABC degree doesn't know the person. On the other hand, there are also a number of people who are willing to dump their family member and wipe their hands of responsibility which is wrong.
I read something yesterday that the problem with public health is they tend to view problems and solutions from the lens of populations and overlook the fact that populations are made up of individuals. I think this is where a lot of the problems we currently have stem from. I would like to see a joint partnership where power AND responsibility are shared. Checks and balances, so to speak.
Would this work? I think it would take some tweaking, but I don't see how it can be worse than what we have now. I would also want to see a definition of success. And a willingness to say if success is not met, we revisit; we don't constantly try to put the square peg in the round hole and say the reason it is not working is there just isn't enough funding.