Hello from WA Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program!

We are so excited to embark on the first season of our podcast together, but first, we wanted to prop open the door, and give you a chance to get to know some of the folks who make this podcast possible. You will hear from:

• Patricia Hunter, Washington State Long-Term Care Ombuds
• Amy Freeman Attorney for Washington State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program
• Vicki Elting, Assistant State Long-Term Care Ombuds 

And learn about what brought them to the work and what keeps them here. This will also be a chance for you to learn what exactly the Ombudsman Program is, and what our offices do across Washington State.

Thank you so much for your support! This podcast is brought to you by the Washington State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, working to ensure the rights, dignity, and well-being of individuals living in long-term care today and tomorrow. The  LTCO program is operated by the Multi-Service Center, a private non-profit located in Federal Way, Washington. To learn more about the Multi-service center visit MSChelps.org.

Contact:
1-800-562-6028 (TTY 1-800-737-7931)
www.waombudsman.org/general-information-request-form
Facebook @WAOmbudsman
Twitter @WA_LTCOmbuds

Volunteer:
Volunteer ombuds are the backbone of the Washington State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program! If you are interested in joining this extraordinary group of individuals working to protect Resident Rights in Washington State head to: https://www.waombudsman.org/volunteer/

Donate:
If you are inspired by the work please consider donating to ensure that we can continue our work to 2021 and beyond. Donate online at https://mschelps.org/donate/ In the dropdown menu listed, “My donation is for” select “Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program."

Donate by mail via check to MSC and sending to Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP), c/o Multi-Service Center, P.O. Box 23699, Federal Way, WA 98093.

Transcript

Courtney Neubauer  0:07  
Welcome to "Please Knock Before Entering."  I'm your host, Courtney Neubauer. And we are starting off our very first episode hearing from the Washington State ombuds. Patricia Hunter. Patricia, can you give us some context? What exactly is the long term care ombudsman program?

Patricia Hunter  0:27  
Hey, Courtney. Thanks. So the Washington State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program is an independent program. It's a non-governmental entity. And that's important to know. We provide systemic and individual advocacy on behalf of long term care residents who live in our state. And we're always we're always on the side of long term care residents. So when we are advocating, we're advocating for the residents wishes. Our focus, it's on advocacy, and we continually ask ourselves, "What does the resident want?" to help keep  us focused and guided. And then the program is housed within a private nonprofit organization. It's operated by the Multi-Service Center located in Federal Way, Washington.

Courtney Neubauer  1:18  
So what exactly is it that the long term care ombudsman program does,

Patricia Hunter  1:22  
W e do a lot of things. But in essence, in a nutshell, we do three things. One, we advocate for the rights of long term care residents, and that includes everything from their right to quality care, quality of life issues, those kinds of things. And we do that by going into licensed long term care settings into their homes and meeting residents where they're at. So at their bedside, in their room, anywhere in the facility. And we do that through a huge core of paid and volunteer ombudsman. The second thing we do we do a lot of is educating, educating the residents, providers of services, resident family members, and also the public and the elected officials and state agency we, we educate them about what's happening in long term care, and how things are going for residents. And then the third thing we do is we, we advocate on a macro level on a systems level. So we're required to do things like analyze, proposed legislation and give comment on that legislation. And we're really focused on trying to improve anything from policies to laws that impact the lives of long term care residents.

Courtney Neubauer  2:50  
Definitely a big workload, huge. Yes. And how did you get into this work? How, how did you learn about the program and what brought you to the role you're in today?

Patricia Hunter  3:03  
Sure. So I'm a social worker by profession. And I've worked in the aging field for nearly 30 years. And, of course, just knew about the ombudsman program as a resource in the community. When I worked for the Alzheimer's Association, Washington State, I would refer families to the to the program, and also tap into the ombudsman program for advice as a consultant and as a social worker.

Courtney Neubauer  3:31  
That that history, I feel the the depth of it. So yeah, 30 years, that's a long time years, been able to, like refer people to a place and now like, helping run in direct and do the macro work and talking to residents at their bedside. I feel like that really gives like a good holistic picture of the program.

Patricia Hunter  3:55  
You know what? Yeah, thank you. I, I think that even as a social worker with, you know, sort of deep knowledge, I had no idea, the depth of the program and and the possibilities and what ombudsman actually do, so I'm continuously learning. And, I mean, I think that's one of the reasons why we want to do this podcast is to make sure that people are aware of this incredible resource.

Courtney Neubauer  4:25  
Absolutely. Thank you. And we will talk more about that little piece about why we're doing this podcast, but before we do, we want to make sure to introduce our other hosts. Do you want to introduce yourself, Amy?

Amy Freeman  4:40  
Sure. I'm Amy Freeman. I'm an attorney in private practice in Washington State. And I have been representing the ombudsman programs since about 2013.

Courtney Neubauer  4:51  
Coming up on maybe maybe a couple of work anniversaries.

Amy Freeman  4:55  
Mm hmm. Although since COVID, you know, it's just all one long, never ending

Courtney Neubauer  5:02  
The year 2050 in COVID time.

Amy Freeman  5:04  
That's right.

Courtney Neubauer  5:06  
And what brought you to the work? How did you get involved with the program? Well,

Amy Freeman  5:11  
it all started when I was born in 1970.

Courtney Neubauer  5:14  
Getting that good history!

Amy Freeman  5:18  
So I've always, ever since college, I've done work with older folks. And I went to law school to do public service advocacy, and worked at a couple of different places, and then just ended up in the right place at the right time when the ombudsman program needed a new attorney. And I had the background in elder law and in legal services work and was able to go into private practice to get the sign an annual contract to provide legal services for the program. So it all just was serendipitous. Really, it all worked out perfectly. So it's my dream job, my destination job, I'm not going anywhere, until they prime my cold dead hands off the off my laptop.

Courtney Neubauer  6:05  
It's so cool to hear those ways that like, sometimes we're being set up for our dream job. And then we know we've got it when we're already there. And and what do you what is a program attorney for the ombudsman? What are you sort of do on a on a day to day basis? Or, I know, COVID times? A little bit different? Maybe but what is it? What is it like to be in your job in your position?

Amy Freeman  6:31  
Well, let's see. It's a it's for me, it's a perfect mixture of systemic advocacy, working on legislative proposals, and then also doing individual advocacy, helping Patricia the state ombuds out with individual cases that her ombuds are dealing with around the state. Other times it's fighting with attorneys who are trying to get information out of the Ombudsman Program, and they don't believe me when I tell them how strict the confidentiality laws are, and that it's for good reason. Right. So the whole policy behind the very strict disclosure laws are so that residents will feel safe and feel comfortable coming forward to ombuds with whatever issues they're struggling with. Just the same way that clients are supposed to feel comfortable telling their attorneys things that they might not want to tell them, the confidentiality laws help you to feel better about doing that. So the good, the bad and the Ugly come out in residence, of course, as the ombuds know, better than I can fear retaliation from, from facilities, from caregivers, from administrators, if they sort of rat out the facility or talk about what's not right in the facility life and so ombuds can tell residents that, you know, there's a real lockbox on the information and that there, they can remain anonymous if they so choose. It's all up to what the resident wants.

Courtney Neubauer  7:51  
Yeah, I think that's that's one of the most powerful things about this program is that everyone takes that really seriously in it. The call that that gives us to make sure we're putting resident confidentiality first. And last, but certainly not least, we're going to round out our other hosts today of Vicki Elting. Do you want to introduce yourself a little bit?

Vicki Elting  8:15  
Sure. Um, I'm Vicki Elting. And I have been with the ombudsman program, I stopped counting at 25 years. And but I think it's been a little more than that now. And I've, I came kind of accidentally when I was a young mother and I needed a part time job. And so I thought this would be perfect. And it became much more than that, to me. What it became was sort of a crusade on a little area of civil rights that we don't recognize very often. And that is the civil rights of people who are older, or disabled. And I'm, I guess that's what's powered me through this experience. Most of my time here,

Courtney Neubauer  9:13  
Being here 25 years. I mean, I think that gives you such a, a wealth of a resource to draw upon. And I'm just wondering, what is maybe a change that you've seen in the program or the reception of the program in these last 25 years? Yeah.

Vicki Elting  9:30  
So so that the program has grown really fabulously in in the last 20 years. And what has really grown is the recognition of the power of the program, its influence at the kind of legislative level, because a lot of our advocacy depends upon that kind of effort. And I want to add one thing too, because I kind of left the residents out. And the fact is, is that once residents understand their civil rights, and how powerful they really are, as, as residents in long term care, it's kind of an epiphany for them. And we've seen that happen in, in lots of cases where we come in to a facility and talk to a resident who then because it helps them with an issue, and then they become kind of pioneers of spreading the word.

Patricia Hunter  10:35  
I wanted to add that, I totally agree with Vicki, it's, you know, our, our hope is that, through educating and modeling, advocacy, and educating the residents, as well as the providers and caregivers about resident rights, that it becomes a, you know, I don't like to use the word empowerment too much, because that sounds so cliche, but it becomes a becomes a way for people to sort of self serve.

Courtney Neubauer  11:01  
Yeah, I am. I'm so excited for for this first season of our podcast to talk more about those issues about how we sort of break down people's like internal doubts, and maybe like internalized ableism and ageism, and help people get to that point where they are confident to speak about issues impacting their lives in a way that leads to real tangible solutions. Because I think that's the other thing about this program is it's helps people top from, from, you know, the the mental health and how we view ourselves to like, what is on our dinner plate when it comes comes in, in in the evening?

Patricia Hunter  11:49  
I think that's one of the great things about the Ombudsman Program is that- Well, first of all, it's is it's a very specific culture. And even though you know, like, for example, I came in with many years of experience in social work. And I know, I've heard Amy talk about, you know, working in elder law, when you walk into the ombudsman program, and you have these responsibilities, you also have this sort of, you know, 10,000 foot level view, I think that it, of course, is a an honor to be able to work with residents and their families and I am constant learning, I just have to emphasize that not there's not one single formula that works for every single resident. So we do a lot of listening, as well as advocating. But we also do a lot of learning.

Courtney Neubauer  12:37  
Yeah. And I know, one of our goals with this podcast is is to share those learnings and expand who has access to, to that learning and that culture of of ombudsman work. But but for all of you, what, what do what sort of brought you to this point of like, let's do the very embarrassing thing, recording ourselves and having to listen back to our own voices, which is always A lill, lill, uncomfy maybe- why did we decide to do a podcast?

Patricia Hunter  13:13  
Well, well, I'll start. And I, although, you know, we represent consumers. Really, the residents, I think, those who, who are living the experience of living through this pandemic, and living in a long term care facility that their voices aren't being heard, why not try to bring the stories to the public, so there's better understanding, you know, before the pandemic, and now during the pandemic, sort of this secret world that exists out there. I think it's something that is a bit of an unknown for the common person.

Vicki Elting  13:58  
Why, why did I choose this? And actually, I was hesitant to agree to it, because I have, I grew up with a speech impediment, that has gotten much better as I got older, through lots of help from wonderful speech therapist. But whenever I've been in a more public position to talk, my my throat gets tight. And I don't feel really very articulate. And this is another reason why this works for me, because I'm not even in a room with anybody. I'm all by myself. And it puts me at ease and I'm hoping that that ease will will transfer to the people who are listening and maybe even communicating with us during the podcasts. So. So anyway, you can leave, you can take that out if you want, but I had-

Patricia Hunter  15:09  
I think that's awesome. I actually I love your voice on this mic as I'm listening to you, Vicki. So I'm really glad that you decided to join in and participate.

Courtney Neubauer  15:21  
And, and I think that, in a way sort of ties into to our sort of like next sort of bullet to talk about, which is, why the name, why please knock before entering and what, please knock before entering means in the long term care world.

Patricia Hunter  15:39  
So you have you live in a nursing home or a long term care setting. And if you're lucky, you know, you have a large space. But let's just take a nursing home, for example, you literally have, you know, like a hospital size bed, and you have that maybe this privacy curtain between you and your roommate, right. And these are busy places, nursing homes, people are needing care, and people are coming in and out of your room and one of the basic rights, that residents have the right to privacy, and a right to choice and a right to feeling secure. Right, and they have a right to dignity, I could just go on and on and on with all the rights that the federal and state laws, you know, on resident rights are and so you can't just come in and out. You need to respect that threshold, that door as a boundary. And when you cross it, like any of us, I mean, you know, you wouldn't just like walk into your neighbor's house, you need a knock, and ask for permission. Doing that exercise is so meaningful to residents, that this person respects me and understands that this is my home. And I call the shots as to who comes in, and who doesn't. So, yeah, so we wanted to name it that I wanted to name it that because I definitely want this podcast to enlighten people to, you know, the lives and experiences of residents. And we wanted also to have the perspective of the residents, so

Vicki Elting  17:32  
I, I if I may say this to you no knocking is, is a symbol for please respect boundaries, you know, my boundaries, even though I live here, I still have very important boundaries. And they, they contribute to my dignity and self respect,

Patricia Hunter  17:59  
Vicki, you're so right. And I think it also speaks to what you know, the common person may not know about long term care is the sense of loss that people have experienced when they come into living in a long term care facility, they have lost oftentimes, their sense of boundaries and control over their own, you know, body, you know, oftentimes people come from a hospital and emergency situation where they've been poked and prodded and had someone walk in every hour, every 15 minutes checking, checking on them, and then you know, they're rushed to a long term care facility, which they probably have not seen, and didn't choose themselves necessarily. And all of that sense of routine and security and the environment that they once lived in is gone. Right. And now this is their new home. And that simple act of knocking before entering asking permission to go and is a sign of respect and restoring their dignity and restoring their control over their lives.

Vicki Elting  19:12  
And, you know, it's also just a whole way of giving respect to passing out respect all the time.

Courtney Neubauer  19:21  
We have one last question. What do you hope people take away from listening to this podcast? What do we hope that they learn, engage with, think differently about? 

Amy Freeman  19:36  
So, let's see, I would hope that people you know, most people know somebody in long term care or had someone in long term care. It's pretty hard not to these days, but I would hope that people would just do sort of a 180 and look at things totally differently after listening to this podcast and just question the assumptions of long term care. And then come back and keep learning

Courtney Neubauer  19:59  
That's so Powerful gives us a gives us a hefty to-do list as well.

Vicki Elting  20:05  
I hope that residents and others who are listening, realize that there is a, there's a, an advocacy group out there this very long, it's very powerful in lots of ways. And that we've been around for 40 years, isn't it? Or is it 45, I can't remember I know, between 40 and 45, and that we've grown a lot stronger over those years, and a lot more we are, we've educated ourselves in how to change, make change in legislation, and there's Long Term Care Ombudsman programs all over the country. So we're part of a network. And you come away feeling a little more comfortable about having someone on your side, because we are,

Courtney Neubauer  21:01  
that's great, yeah, someone on your side.

Patricia Hunter  21:06  
So I was hoping, I have one very specific goal, and that is to bring awareness to long term care and make it you know, like, so I don't have to explain what long-term care is you know, it's just like, it's like a normal word where everyone's like, parenthood and daycare, and, you know, it's just something that is normal to everyday life that people understand, regardless of, you know, their life experience. So if you're a teenager, or an adult or an older adult, we all have a common understanding of what it means when I talk about a nursing home, we have, you know, some idea of what that means. But one specific goal we really have here, you know, in terms of raising awareness, is getting people interested in long term care, whether that be volunteering at their local, you know, nursing home, as an ombudsman, or in other some other capacity or working in the field. It's a great field to work in, particularly if you are a helper by nature, and you're interested in maybe being a nurse, or just learning about the different roles. And then, of course, as a, you know, an individual's a human being, sort of understanding, sort of human development and understanding that we all age if we're lucky enough, and that long term care whether it be in your own home or in a licensed setting, like a nursing home that is a part of our life as part of our development. And that many of us will experience it at some point. So I think I wanted to try this so that people will feel more comfortable, knowledgeable. I just wanted something a little more informal, where, where we can like tackle this complex topic.

Courtney Neubauer  23:11  
Thank you so much for listening and supporting "Please Knock Before Entering." This podcast is brought to you by The Washington State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, working to ensure the rights, dignity and well being of individuals living in long term care today and tomorrow. If you or someone you know would like to speak to a local ombuds or apply to be a volunteer, please call 1-800-562-6028 or you can reach us by TTY at 1-800-737-7931 or you can always visit us online. The Long Term Care Ombudsman program is operated by the Multi-Service Center, a private nonprofit located in Federal Way, Washington. To learn more about the multi service center, please visit mschelps.org.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai