Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987

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The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act ,(OBRA), was established officially in 1987. This act was necessary as a result of abuse, neglect and poor quality care that was present in all nursing facilities. Children, veterans, mentally handicapped, and elderly were the prime populations in nursing institutions. In this essay, OBRA of '87, under the Nursing Home Care Act regarding the elderly, will be explored and addressed. The policy was established due to severe issues in elderly population facilities. Severe issues included: frequent use of restraints and psychotropic drugs, low quality care, and understaffed facilities. Standards of nursing home care and certain rights for for the elderly residents in the U.S. were enforced by Federal law. State and Federal government were required by law to scrutinize nursing homes and create higher quality standards by using a variety of sanctions. Some of the sanctions included: residents be handed their bill of rights manually, frequent one-on-one evaluations to be implemented, and a requirement of complete care plans and services. Overall, this bill was crucial with respect to a fast growing population that was filling up nursing facilities across America. Implications for Social Work Practice This policy is instrumental for the social work profession for numerous reasons. First and foremost, the 1987 requirement by Federal law, stated that if there are more than 120 beds in a nursing facility, they are required to hire a full time social worker. This opened up a whole new market for social workers, they were now a necessary employee required to be hired by law; and therefore they were viewed as a significant and empirical asset to the well-being of the geriatric population. The new law... ... middle of paper ... ...1. http://search.proquest.com.lb-proxy8.touro.edu/docview/304709901/abstract?accountid=14375 Kumar, Virender. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 2001. 3007831. http://nationalpriorities.org/en/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/ Vladeck, B. C., & Twentieth Century Fund. (1980). Unloving care: The nursing home tragedy. New York: Basic Books. “What is nursing home quality and how is it measured”http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2915498/ http://www.dbhds.virginia.gov/documents/manuals/OMH-OBRAhandbook2000.pdf http://info.humanrights.curtin.edu.au/local/docs/IRConceptions.pdf Institutional and Residual Conceptions of Human Rights Jim Ife and Lucy Fiske Centre for Human Rights Education, Curtin University of Technology Interview with , M.D.S co0ordinator, Daughters of Miriam Instutute

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