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Committed to Educating Our Community About Long-Term Care

The WISE & Healthy Aging Ombudsman Program is committed to raising awareness of issues and options for individuals and families facing the need for long-term care.

Nursing Home Resident Rights

Nursing home residents have patient rights and certain protections under the law. The nursing home must list and give all new residents a copy of these rights.

Residents' rights cover:

• Ability to voice grievances and recommend changes
• Access and visitation
• Admission agreements and fees
• Chemical and physical restraints and abuse
• Dignity and privacy
• Free choice and participation
• Medical condition and treatment
• Money
• Resident and Family Councils
• Resident records
• Transfer and discharge

Residents' rights are established under both federal and state law. Federal rights are found in the Code of Federal Regulations ("C.F.R"), Title 42.

California nursing home resident rights are found in the Health & Safety and Welfare & Institutions Codes and in the the California Code of Regulations, Title 22.

Speakers Bureau

Organizations and groups wishing more information about long-term care issues may call the WISE & Healthy Aging Ombudsman Program at (310) 394-9871, extension 439 or e-mail us at ombudsman2@wiseandhealthyaging.org to arrange a speaker or presentation. Speakers are available to present on the following topics:

• Residents rights
• The role of family councils in long-term care settings
• Quality of care issues
• Elder abuse
• Advance Health Care Directives
• The role of the ombudsman

To request an ombudsman representative as a speaker please contact our Quality Assurance and Training Specialist at 310- 394-9871 ext. 432.

Nursing Home Selection Checklist

The following checklist may be helpful to people who are in the process of selecting a nursing home for a family member or friend. The checklist is provided in both a Word format and PDF format.

To read the PDF, it will be necessary to have Acrobat Reader®. If you don’t have it, you can download a free version by clicking here. You can download the PDF version of the checklist by clicking here.