PERSONAL CARE HOME RESIDENTS' RIGHTS
Source: Rules and Regulations for Personal Care Homes
Chapter 290-5-35.18
(I) As a minimum, the following rights shall be guaranteed and cannot be waived by the resident or the resident's representative or legal surrogate, if any:
(a) Each resident shall receive care and services which shall be adequate, appropriate and in compliance with applicable federal and state law and regulations, without discrimination in the quality of service based on age, gender, race, physical or mental disability, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status or the source of payment for the service;
(b) No resident shall be punished or harassed by the facility, its agents or its employees because of the resident's efforts to enforce his or her rights;
(c) Each resident shall have the right to:
1. Exercise the constitutional rights guaranteed to citizens of this state and this country including but not linited to, the right to vote;
2. Choose activities and schedules consistent with the resident's interests, and assessments;
3. Interact with members of the community both inside and outside the home and to participate fully in the life of the community; and
4. Make choices about aspects of his or her life in the home that are significant to the resident;
(d) Each resident shall have the right to enjoy privacy in his or her room; facility personnel and others shall respect this right by knocking on the door before entering the resident's room. Each resident may associate and communicate privately with persons and groups of his or her choice. Residents shall have the right of freedom from eavesdropping and the right to private and uncensored communication with anyone of the resident's choice;
(e) If a resident is married and the spouse is also a resident in the facility, they shall be permitted to share a room, unless they request otherwise;
(f) Each resident shall be treated with respect and be given privacy in the provision of personal care. Each resident shall be accorded privacy and freedom for the use of bathrooms at all hours;
(g) No religious belief or practice shall be imposed upon any resident. Residents must be free to practice their religious beliefs as they choose. Each resident shall have the right to participate in social, religious, and community activities that do not interfere with the rights of other resident;
(h) Each resident shall have the right to be free from mental, verbal, sexual and physical abuse, neglect and exploitation. Each resident has the right to be free from actual or threatened physical or chemical restraints and the right to be free from isolation, corporal, or unusual punishment including interference with the daily functions of living, such as eating and sleeping;
(i) Each resident shall have the right to use, keep and control his or her own personal property and possessions in the immediate living quarters, except to the extent a residen's use of his or her property would interfere with the safety or health of other residents. Each resident shall have the right to reasonable safeguards for the protection and security of his personal property and possessions brought into the facility;
(j) Each resident's mail shall be delivered unopened to the resident on the day it is delivered to the facility. Each resident's outgoing correspondence shall remain unopened;
(k) Each resident shall have access to a telephone and the right to have a private telephone, at the resident's own expense. Telephones shall be placed in areas to insure privacy without denying accessibility;
(l) Each facility must permit immediate access to residents by others who are visiting with the consent of the resident. Residents have the right to have visitors at mutually agreed upon hours. Once the hours are agreed upon, no prior notice is necessary. Each resident shall have the complete right to terminate any visit by any person who has access to the facility;
(m) Each resident shall have the right to a personal needs allowance for the free use of the resident in the amount of five dollars per week to be distributed by the administrator, on-site manager, or a responsible staff person in the home. The following conditions shall be met regarding the personal needs allowance:
1. The personal needs allowance shall be included as a charge for services to each resident's account which a resident or a resident's representative or legal surrogate, if any, may waive by signing a written waiver upon admission or anytime thereafter. No allowance charge may be assessed where a resident or a resident's representative or legal surrogate, if any, has signed a written waiver of the personal needs allowance. such a waiver shall be kept in a resident's file;
2. Where no waiver has been signed, the personal needs allowance shall be tendered to each resident, in cash, on the same day each week; and
3. The personal needs allowance shall not be intended or needed for purchasing necessary goods such as toilet paper and light bulbs which the home ordinarily supplies, and shall in no way relieve the home of the obligation to insure that such necessary goods are available to the resident;
(o) Each resident shall also have the right to receive or reject medical care, dental care, or other services except as required by law or regulations;
(p) Each resident shall have the right to choose and retain the services of a personal physician and any other health care professional or service. No facility shall interfere with the resident's right to receive from the resident's attending physician complete and current information concerning the resident’s diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Each resident and his or her representative or legal surrogate, if any, shall have the right to be fully informed about care and of any changes in that care and the right of access to all information in medical records;
(q) Each resident shall have the right to fully participate in the planning of his or her care. Case discussion, consultation and examination shall be confidential and conducted discreetly. A person who is not directly involved ion the resident's care may be present when care is being rendered only if he or she has the resident’s permission;
(r) Each resident shall have the right to inspect his or her records on request. Each resident shall have the right to make a copy of all records pertaining to the resident. Each resident has the right to confidential treatment of personal information in the resident file;
(s) each resident who has not been committed to the facility by court order or who does not have a representative or legal surrogate with specific written authority to admit, transfer or discharge, may discharge or transfer himself or herself upon notification to the home in conformance with the home's policies and procedures; and
(t) Each risident shall have the right to access to the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program O.C.G.A. 31-8-50 et. Seq. And the name, address, and telephone number of the Ombudsman and county inspector assigned to the home shall be posted in a common area of the home.
(u) Residents shall have the right to form a Resident Council and have meetings in the home outside the presence of owners, management or staff members of the home.
(2) Each resident shall be provided, at the time of admission to the home, with a copy of the Resident's Bill of Rights, as provided in 290-5-35-.18 which shall include provisions for protecting the personal and civil rights of each resident. In the event that a resident is unable to read the Resident's Bill of Rights, the manager shall take special steps to assure communication of its contents to the resident.
Authority O.C.G.A. Secs. 31-2-4.31-7-2-1.
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