Long Term Care Community Coalition

While nursing homes provide critical services, widespread problems exist.

New York is among the states with the highest number of one- and two-star nursing home facilities as rated on a federal five-star quality and safety rating system. These ratings underscore findings from the federal government that New York State struggles to oversee nursing homes, identify substandard care, and ensure that violations of quality and safety standards are corrected. Absent sufficient regulatory oversight and enforcement, residents and their representatives must be informed about care standards, resident rights, and how these rights can be realized. Doing so entails educating and engaging family caregivers to seek improvements in their loved ones’ care through engagement with administrators and policy changes. In 2022, NYHealth awarded the Long Term Care Community Coalition (LTCCC) a grant to educate and support older adults, their families, and the ombudsmen that represent them to improve the safety, quality, and experience of long-term care.

Under this grant, LTCCC will develop educational tools and provide trainings to aid families of older adults in long-term care settings, as well as the professionals and volunteers that serve them. It will also create a free toolkit for nursing home residents, families, and advocates that will address issues such as documenting concerns with care and filing complaints with federal and State oversight agencies. LTCCC will disseminate resources, designed by family council representatives and long-term care ombudsmen, to family councils, community-based organizations, and a statewide consumer advocacy coalition. To put these tools to practical use, LTCCC will provide technical assistance to families and train-the-trainer sessions with ombudsmen and other representatives for seniors.

NYHealth is supporting a complementary initiative, focused on legal issues in nursing homes, with a grant to the Center for Elder Law & Justice.