Across the country, residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities along with family members, Ombudsman program representatives, citizen advocates, facility staff, and others will honor the individual rights of longterm care residents by celebrating Residents’ Rights Month. Residents’ Rights Month is an annual event held in October by the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care (Consumer Voice) to celebrate and focus on awareness of dignity, respect, and the value of long-term care residents.

The theme for Residents’ Rights Month 2021, “Reclaiming My Rights, My Home, My Life,” acknowledges the impact of this past year on residents and highlights the need for residents’ rights to be recognized, recovered, and reasserted. It emphasizes the recognition of the longterm care facility as the residents’ home, and the importance of residents reclaiming their own lives.

“This year’s Residents’ Rights Month theme focuses on raising awareness of federally mandated residents’ rights while also underscoring the need for dignity and self-determination of all residents.,” said Lori Smetanka, Executive Director of the Consumer Voice.

The Nursing Home Reform Law, passed in 1987, guarantees nursing home residents their individual rights, including but not limited to: individualized care, respect, dignity, the right to visitation, the right to privacy, the right to complain, and the right to make independent choices. Residents who have made their home in other types of facilities, assisted living, residential care facilities, and Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, maintain their rights as U.S. Citizens.

Contact your Ombudsman Supervisor at C.O.E.D.D. Area Agency on Aging at 405.273.6410 – (Cherry Love, extension 127).