Ohio nursing home patients should not be forced to share rooms

Mike DeWine
| Guest columnist

Mike DeWine is the governor of Ohio.

It’s easy to take the comforts of home for granted.

Home is where we feel safest and can best express ourselves; it is the ultimate refuge and the source of great personal pride.

Unfortunately, this comfort is not available to the thousands of Ohio nursing home residents who do not have a private room.

Although national studies tell us that up to 82% of long-term care residents prefer a private room (and only 4% prefer a room with multiple residents), the majority of Ohio nursing home residents still share a room with someone else – and often, residents have no say in who that person is.

During my tenure as governor, I have been proud to lead a series of initiatives to reimagine our nursing home system so that it puts residents and quality first.

Last year, I launched the Ohio Nursing Home Quality and Accountability Task Force. As that group traveled across the state, speaking with residents and families about their lived experiences, one of the top requests we heard was from people who wanted private rooms.

If we truly want to do right by these Ohioans, the next step is clear. Every nursing home resident in our state who wants a private room should be able to get one.

The good news is that we are now making this goal a reality.

Why Single Rooms Are Important in Nursing Homes

With the support of the General Assembly, I recently directed our Ohio Medicaid Department to develop a plan that would incentivize nursing homes to work with us to make privacy a priority.

After hearing about the benefits of our proposal, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services gave us the green light to move forward.

Single-family rooms increase resident and family satisfaction. They provide individuals with the level of independence, comfort and dignity they expect – and deserve – from the place they call home. HouseThis is particularly important for those who require specialist care, given the personal nature of the experience of receiving care.

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Many nursing home residents need help with tasks such as bathing, dressing, eating or using the bathroom.

Needing help with these tasks, and then being forced to share these experiences with a roommate, can understandably make people feel deprived of their privacy and dignity.

Most importantly, single rooms produce better health outcomes. Numerous hospital studies have shown that moving from shared rooms to single rooms immediately, significantly, and sustainably reduces the risk of acquiring and spreading potential infections.

This same principle is particularly important for nursing home residents, who may be at particular risk of serious consequences if they become ill.

In long-term care facilities, private rooms also improve sleep patterns and reduce agitation and aggressive behavior in people with dementia.

Our strategy to increase the number of private rooms is a victory for care home residents and is also supported by the care home sector.

This fundamental change is the kind of bold action needed to realize our vision of maximizing the quality of care and quality of life in retirement homes, and to continue our ongoing efforts to provide residents with a level of comfort that is truly theirs. House.

Mike DeWine is the governor of Ohio.