My old boss and current Dean of the Erickson School at UMBC, Judah Ronch, just had a letter-to-the-editor published in the New York Times in response to what I consider an absolutely scandalous and damning expose story about retirement communities that ban residents from eating in the main dining room if they become frail enough to require assisted living or nursing care.
I’m not kidding. Even married couples and longtime friends are barred from eating dinner together if one of the couples has to move out of the independent living section of the retirement community, which in this case is Harbor’s Edge, an upscale CCRC (Continuous Care Retirement Community) in Norfolk, Va. Those in assisted living and nursing care also were barred from community events such as the Fourth of July celebration, Paula Span reported in the Feb. 9 story “Tables Reserved for the Healthiest” in The New Old Age blog.
Here’s what one resident of Harbor’s Edge had to say:
Charges of discrimination quickly followed the new edict. “We’ve been excommunicated,” said Judith Schapiro, 83, an assisted living resident. “I thought segregation ended in 1954.”
I hope most of our readers find this practice discriminatory and sickening. The article points to three similar instances of retirement communities being sued for attempting to segregate diners, and in each instance the communities lost or settled. Harbor’s Edge is currently being sued and I don’t doubt they’ll lose.
But the unfortunate truth is that similar practices are probably fairly widespread. The marketplace for CCRC’s is competitive and the marketing is often ageist. Although having access to assisted living and nursing services “sometime down the road” is a selling point, the target customers are retired but “active” adults, and the marketing reflects this. You will not see people in wheelchairs or walkers on the brochures, and apparently in communities such as Harbor’s Edge you won’t see them in public parts of the retirement community either. At one CCRC I visited frequently while working at UMBC — Erickson Communities at Charleston — the skilled nursing section of the community was not even listed on the map, and residents who moved there said they were rarely if ever visited by their friends in the rest of the community.
Harbor’s Edge defended itself by claiming that Virginia state regulations prohibit residents with various degrees of disability from dining together — an excuse as pathetic as it is false. Virginia state ombudsman Joani Latimer said she knows of no such regulations and said most other Virginia CCRC’s have avoided adopting such discriminatory dining policies.
Harbor’s Edge real motive probably has more to do with the pressure to project an image of “active” aging — and not just to prospective residents, but for those who already live there.
As the article points out, not all residents oppose the discriminatory policy and sadly this is typical as well. Many aging experts I’ve worked with, including Dr. Ronch and Dr. Bill Thomas, have noted that older people often display more ageist attitudes than younger people. And in long term care settings it is often the residents who complain of being around people with disabilities.
To make a point of segregating people because of their physical or mental condition is to threaten their sense of dignity and identity as a valued member of a community. It’s a sad fact that aging, and the disabilities that sometimes accompany it, can begin to trump who you are. We count on good care providers to respect the humanity of each resident and counter their fears by showing all that quality of life will be honored at all levels of care.
What do you think? I’m sure many of our readers work or live in CCRC’s. Have you ever experienced similar treatment or attitudes?
I have been a companion to several residents at a local CCRC – marketed as a “premier” facility. The residents are segregated at mealtime as soon as they are no longer walking and especially when they need assistance with eating. There are three dining rooms. Two of them are located at the opposite side of the main building. You would not even know they are there if you walked into the main entrance. They are only open to the assisted living and skilled nursing part of the building. Once a person needs assistance being fed, no family or friends can be with them at the “feeding” tables. Part of this is the over-regulation of NYS out of fear of lawsuits.
It breaks my heart to see these people treated like they are mouths that need to have food shoved down them (literally, at times). The employees often hate to feed the residents and don’t hesitate to be clear on that. The gossip runs rampant among the employees throughout the meal. The residents are talked over and about while they are being fed just because they are usually non-verbal (with late stage Alzheimer’s or other form of dementia). There is no music or any indication that this should be a relaxing, enjoyable experience for the residents.
As a family-hired companion, I was able to accompany my residents to the dining room and sit with them throughout the meal until a year ago. Since I was not employed by the facility, I was not allowed to assist in the feeding. Eventually, I was kicked out of the dining room, along with all other companions and helpers. Thanks to New York State. The dining room experience became an assembly line procedure with absolutely nothing personal or caring in any way.
This is not an Eden facility. I doubt that it ever will be. Some of the family members have tried to complain as high up as they could go. They have met brick walls at every level. The facility seems to have ultimate power over all the residents, especially once they move into the assisted and skilled nursing units. A local ombudsman was brought in. Nothing was resolved. Once again, the facility “won”, the matter was dropped. The family members give up, which is what the facility counts on.
I am the ED of a CCRC on the Eden Registry. A couple of weeks ago we shared the New York Times article at our community learning circle of residents and staff from all areas of campus. It was a very interesting discussion. One resident is planning to also write a letter to the editor to share her experience of inclusion at her community.
The majority of the folks that live in the independent living area of campus are very proud of our strong focus on being one community – with everyone welcomed and celebrated and honored. In fact, the monthly learning circle is held in our nursing home. The independent living residents actually go to the nursing home for this and other programs. We use space throughout the campus to create gatherings of people with common interests rather than based on their care needs. We have found, of course, that as people get to know each other as neighbors and as people, they stop stereotyping and start seeing what they have in common. Old friendships are maintained and new ones flourish.