''THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE''

 ---I have been living in a Nursing Home for over seven years. It has been asked of me - ‘’what do you think is wrong at LHH?’’ Many expect me to comment on the move, in someway.

---What I see as needing change at LHH is much the same thing that I have always thought. The staff should interact with the resident much, more often. The staff as authority figure and substitutes for parents do wonders with the acknowledgement of residents as individuals.

---The staff records and deals with what the residents do, but don’t address ‘’why they do what they do?’’ It seems they are in an ideal position to change lifetimes of negative behavior to authority figures and parental figures by just providing a helpful, listening ear when necessary. But, most residents are on-the-clock as soon as they open their mouth. The staff has paperwork to get to…which has somehow become their jobs.

.---Writing and having meetings about and for the residents has taken the place of spending time with the resident and getting to know him. In my estimation, the latter would yield great benefit to the health and well-being of the resident. It seems the former gets the most play. It divides the people, here, into two camps - the staff and the residents. And, it furthers the existing isolation. Staff is busy with paperwork while residents sit in a quiet desperation. One can see that this a true statement when one experiences how a resident lights up at staff attention.

---These are the things that I think we need much, more of and no more of the separating attitudes that really don’t do anyone any good. Take Care.

.[Definition: The HORSE is the resident and the CART is anything and everything that causes distraction from that fact.]