Is California 'Warehousing' the Seriously Mentally Ill in Nursing Homes?

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KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

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Summary

Nursing homes aren’t generally equipped to care for the seriously mentally ill, who require specialized treatment and services. But a new investigation by LAist found that in the past year, 25 percent of California nursing home residents had bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or psychotic disorder. And that percentage has increased over the past decade. Some advocates say the mentally ill are effectively being “warehoused” in nursing homes, a practice they say could violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal laws. Guests: Keris Jän Myrick, vice president of partnerships, Inseparable - a mental health advocacy organization. She was referred to a nursing home after being hospitalized Debbie Toth, executive director, Choice in Aging - which works to create opportunities where people can learn, grow, and age independently with dignity in community Elly Yu, senior reporter, LAist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:43.0	From KQED in San Francisco, this is Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
1:04.5	Nursing homes are not generally equipped to care for people with serious mental illnesses
1:09.2	who require specialized treatment and services,
1:11.6	but a new investigation by LAIS has found that in the past year, a quarter of nursing home
1:17.6	residents in California had bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or psychotic disorder.
1:22.6	Were you or someone you know placed in a nursing home for care of a mental illness?
1:32.8	Some advocates worry the mentally ill are effectively being warehoused in nursing homes,
1:37.6	a practice that could violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal laws.
1:39.9	We learn more after this news. Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. There's growing concern that people with mental illnesses are not getting the care and support they need, in part because they're being placed in nursing homes, which are not set up to properly care for them. Last year, one in four residents
2:02.6	of California nursing homes had a serious mental illness defined as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia,
2:08.1	or psychotic disorder. That's according to a new investigation by LAist, APM Research Lab,
2:14.6	and the California Newsroom. Nursing homes are generally designed to care for the elderly or people with physical disabilities.
2:22.3	And this hour, we take a closer look at the impact of placing people with serious mental illnesses there.
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