住进护理院也有专人替你说话：每个州都设长期护理监察专员，拨监察专员热线就能找到本地办公室
在美国住进护理院、寄宿照护或辅助生活机构的人，身边有一位法定的「代言人」：长期护理监察专员。美国社区生活管理局（ACL）介绍，50个州加上华盛顿特区、波多黎各和关岛都设有监察专员项目，专门帮住户处理影响健康、安全、福利和权利的问题。住户本人、家属和其他人都有权联系本地监察专员，了解自己的权利、找社区资源，或者把遇到的麻烦说出来一起解决。
监察专员能管的事，靠的是联邦法律立下的「住户权利法案」。参加联邦医疗保险或医疗补助的护理院必须保障住户的权利，包括：用能懂的语言充分知情、参与自己的照护决定、按自己的需要和喜好做选择、隐私和保密、安全体面的转院和出院并可对决定申诉、接受亲友和自己选的人探访、参加社交和社区活动、组织住户小组、投诉而不必担心被报复、不受歧视、不受虐待忽视和身体约束、获得适当的医疗照护，以及了解护理院之外的其他选择。部分州还给辅助生活机构的住户立了类似的权利。
CDC 估计，全美约有140万长者和残障人士住在护理院里。监察专员处理的问题，小到饭菜、探访安排，大到照护质量和出院争议，都可以先找他们谈，他们的工作是站在住户一边把问题解决，而不是替机构说话。
找本地监察专员有两条路：在网上查本州的监察专员项目，或者拨打 ACL 的 Eldercare Locator 电话 监察专员热线。家里有长辈住护理院的，把这个电话存下来，遇到事先打过去问清楚，比事后争执有用得多。（来源：美国社区生活管理局）
Someone Is Paid to Be on a Nursing Home Resident's Side: Every State Has a Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and 监察专员热线 Reaches the Local Office
Residents of nursing homes, board and care homes and assisted living facilities in the United States have a statutory advocate: the Long-Term Care Ombudsman. The Administration for Community Living (ACL) explains that every state, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam, has an Ombudsman program that works to resolve problems related to residents' health, safety, welfare and rights. Residents, their families and others have the right to contact their local Ombudsman program to understand their rights, learn about community resources and work through problems.
The Ombudsman's ground rules come from the federally established Residents' Bill of Rights. A nursing home that participates in Medicare or Medicaid, as most do, must promote and protect rights that include being fully informed in a language the resident understands, participating in all aspects of care, making independent choices, privacy and confidentiality, safe and appropriate transfer and discharge with a right to appeal, visits from friends, family and others of the resident's choosing, participation in social, religious and community activities, organizing and joining resident groups, complaining without fear of repercussions, freedom from discrimination, freedom from abuse, neglect and restraints, adequate medical care, and information about alternatives to nursing homes. Some states add a similar set of rights for assisted living residents.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 1.4 million older adults and people with disabilities live in nursing homes. An Ombudsman can be brought into matters from meals and visiting arrangements to care quality and discharge disputes, and the program's role is to resolve the problem from the resident's side, not the facility's.
A local Ombudsman program can be found online through the state program listings, or by calling ACL's Eldercare Locator at 监察专员热线. Families with a parent or spouse in a nursing home can save that number before they need it; asking early is far easier than arguing later. (Source: Administration for Community Living)
来源：美国社区生活管理局
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：Wikimedia Commons 摄影，公共领域：护理院住户参加户外钓鱼活动（美国鱼类及野生动物管理局照片，示意：长期护理机构住户的日常与权益）
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
