They're usually thought of of as "rest homes" for the elderly and frail, but now, skilled nursing facilities in California are seeing an influx of younger, more able-bodied residents.
A recent investigation by the Sacramento Bee found that this mixing of populations is creating safety issues for some of the residents.
Marjie Lundstrom is an investigative reporter at the Sacramento Bee and 1991 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in journalism. She joined A Martinez to talk about her investigation into the mixing of divergent populations in skilled nursing facilities and how it's affecting quality of care.
Between 1994 and 2004, residents who are 65 or younger have increased by 40 percent while the number of older residents shrank.
Many of these younger patients are diagnosed with mental illness, and drug and alcohol addiction. Some are homeless people in need of care and in some cases, nursing homes are taking in convicted felons on parole.
"This is not a story where we’re trying to tell consumers to be afraid that you might be housed next to someone who is mentally ill in a facility." said Lundstrom. "Being mentally ill doesn’t make a person mentally dangerous, but what is happening is with these disparate groups- the young, the old, the mentally ill, the homeless, drug addicts, people recently out of prison- it’s not a one size fits all for a nursing staff. The question becomes are these various groups getting the treatment that they need and the answer, I’m sorry to say, in reading thousands of pages of inspection reports, is no."
Under-staffed facilities are struggling to cope with the vast range of treatments required for patients with specialized needs and mental health advocates are concerned that nursing homes are becoming the de facto solution to a shortage of appropriate mental health treatment.
Guest:
is an investigative reporter at the Sacramento Bee and 1991 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in journalism.