Health News
- Agreement Will Move At Least 600 From Personal-care Homes To Community Mental Health Facilities
At least 600 people now in personal-care homes will be moved to community-based settings under "an agreement that advocates say will systematically change the way community mental health services are delivered in Kentucky, improving the lives of hundreds...
- Amid Legislative Action On 'larry's Law,' Report Says Mentally Ill And Intellectually Disabled Don't Belong In Personal-care Homes
By Tara Kaprowy Kentucky Health News As state legislators move to change the procedure for admitting mentally ill patients to personal-care homes, a new report argues those patients shouldn't be in the institutions at all ? and neither should people...
- Brain-injured Man Disappeared When Home Staff Wasn't Looking
On the day of his disappearance, a resident of a personal-care home who was found dead four weeks later had not been checked on by staff for nearly three hours, reports Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the Lexington Herald-Leader, citing documents from a state...
- Death Of Personal-care Home Resident Has Lawmakers From His Hometown Talking About Stricter Staffing Rules
The death of a missing personal-care home resident has a bipartisan pair of Kentucky lawmakers from his home town of talking about setting staffng standards for Kentucky's personal-care homes or even nursing homes, which have successfully lobbied...
- Poor Conditions Found At Letcher County Personal-care Home
State inspectors found pitiable conditions when they visited Golden Years Rest Home, right, in Letcher County in December, the Lexington Herald-Leader's Beth Musgrave and Valarie Honeycutt-Spears report. Kool-Aid dripping on insulin bottles, expired...
Health News
Second death in five years raises questions about placement of mentally ill Kentuckians in personal-care homes
The second death in five years of a mentally ill person who has walked out of a personal care home has "prompted advocates for the brain injured and the mentally ill to question whether personal care homes, which do not provide skilled nursing care, are the appropriate place to house people who have serious, chronic and complex problems," Beth Musgrave and Valarie Honeycutt Spears report for the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Larry Joe Lee, 32, who "had a brain injury, was schizophrenic, bipolar and diabetic," was found dead in after walking away from the Falmouth Nursing Home, the writers note. "In 2007, Larry Bruce Huff, 64, who had schizophrenia and a history of alcoholism, walked away from Golden Years Rest Home in Letcher County and later froze to death." The state closed Golden Years last week, and legislators say they will address the overall problem in the 2012 General Assembly.
"Personal care homes provide long-term care for people who do not need full-time nursing home care but need some assistance," the newspaper explains. "They receive a small state stipend and social security disability ? $1,194 a month ? to provide services to a complex population that includes the mentally ill, mentally disabled and even those who have recently been released from prison. There are 82 free-standing personal care homes in Kentucky serving more than 3,000 people." (Read more)
"Personal care homes provide long-term care for people who do not need full-time nursing home care but need some assistance," the newspaper explains. "They receive a small state stipend and social security disability ? $1,194 a month ? to provide services to a complex population that includes the mentally ill, mentally disabled and even those who have recently been released from prison. There are 82 free-standing personal care homes in Kentucky serving more than 3,000 people." (Read more)
- Agreement Will Move At Least 600 From Personal-care Homes To Community Mental Health Facilities
At least 600 people now in personal-care homes will be moved to community-based settings under "an agreement that advocates say will systematically change the way community mental health services are delivered in Kentucky, improving the lives of hundreds...
- Amid Legislative Action On 'larry's Law,' Report Says Mentally Ill And Intellectually Disabled Don't Belong In Personal-care Homes
By Tara Kaprowy Kentucky Health News As state legislators move to change the procedure for admitting mentally ill patients to personal-care homes, a new report argues those patients shouldn't be in the institutions at all ? and neither should people...
- Brain-injured Man Disappeared When Home Staff Wasn't Looking
On the day of his disappearance, a resident of a personal-care home who was found dead four weeks later had not been checked on by staff for nearly three hours, reports Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the Lexington Herald-Leader, citing documents from a state...
- Death Of Personal-care Home Resident Has Lawmakers From His Hometown Talking About Stricter Staffing Rules
The death of a missing personal-care home resident has a bipartisan pair of Kentucky lawmakers from his home town of talking about setting staffng standards for Kentucky's personal-care homes or even nursing homes, which have successfully lobbied...
- Poor Conditions Found At Letcher County Personal-care Home
State inspectors found pitiable conditions when they visited Golden Years Rest Home, right, in Letcher County in December, the Lexington Herald-Leader's Beth Musgrave and Valarie Honeycutt-Spears report. Kool-Aid dripping on insulin bottles, expired...