Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 111 - RULES OF DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY HEALTH › Chapter 111-8 - HEALTHCARE FACILITY REGULATION › Subject 111-8-63 - RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITIES › Rule 111-8-63-.25 - Supporting Residents Rights and Obtaining Feedback

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1) The assisted
				living community must operate in a manner that respects the personal dignity of
				the residents and the human rights of the residents which rights cannot be
				waived, except as provided in these rules by the resident or the resident's
				representative or legal surrogate.
(a) The
				assisted living community must provide to each resident care and services which
				are adequate, appropriate, and in compliance with state law and
				regulations.
(b) The assisted
				living community, its agents or employees must not punish or harass a resident
				because of the resident's efforts to enforce his or her rights.
(c) The assisted living community must
				operate in a manner that protects each resident's rights to do all of the
				following:
1. exercise the constitutional
				rights guaranteed to citizens of this state and this country including, but not
				limited 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 assisted living community
				and to participate fully in the life of the community; and
4. make choices about aspects of his or her
				life in the assisted living community that are significant to the
				resident.
(d) Each
				resident must have the right to enjoy privacy in his or her room. Assisted
				living community staff and others must respect this right by knocking on the
				door before entering the resident's room.
(e) Each resident must have the right to
				associate and communicate freely and privately with persons and groups of the
				resident's choice without being censored by staff.
(f) If a resident is married and the spouse
				is also a resident in the assisted living community, the residents must be
				permitted to share a room unless they request otherwise, subject to the
				limitation that no more than two residents may share a bedroom or private
				living space.
(g) Each resident
				must be treated with dignity, kindness, consideration and respect and be given
				privacy in the provision of assisted living care. Each resident must be
				accorded privacy and freedom to use the bathroom(s) at all hours.
(h) No religious belief or practice must be
				imposed upon any resident. Residents must be free to practice their religious
				beliefs as they choose. Each resident must have the right to participate in
				social, religious, and community activities that do not interfere with the
				rights of other residents.
(i) Each
				resident must have the right to be free from mental, verbal, sexual and
				physical abuse, neglect and exploitation.
(j) 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 or sleeping.
(k) Each resident must 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 resident's use of his or her
				property would interfere with the safety or health of other residents. Each
				resident must have the right to reasonable safeguards for the protection and
				security of his personal property and possessions brought into the assisted
				living community.
(l) Each
				resident's mail must be delivered unopened to the resident on the day it is
				delivered to the assisted living community. The assisted living community must
				not permit any resident's outgoing correspondence to be opened or tampered with
				prior to being mailed or otherwise delivered.
(m) Each resident must have access to a
				telephone made available by the assisted living community and the right to have
				a private telephone, at the resident's own expense. Telephones must be placed
				in areas to insure privacy without denying accessibility.
(n) Each assisted living community 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 also has the right to refuse to see visitors or
				terminate any visit.
(o) Each
				resident must have the right to manage his own financial affairs, including the
				right to keep and spend his own money unless that resident has been adjudicated
				incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction. Each resident must have the
				right to be free from coercion to assign or transfer to the assisted living
				community money, valuables, benefits, property or anything of value other than
				payment for services rendered by the assisted living community.
(p) Each resident must have the right to a
				personal needs allowance for the free use of the resident in the amount of
				twenty dollars per week to be distributed by the administrator, on-site
				manager, or a responsible staff person in the assisted living community. The
				following conditions must be met regarding the personal needs allowance:
1. The personal needs allowance must 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 must be kept in a resident's file.
2. Where no waiver has been signed, the
				personal needs allowance must be tendered to each resident, in cash, on the
				same day each week.
3. The personal
				needs allowance must not be intended or needed for purchasing necessary goods
				such as toilet paper and light bulbs which the assisted living community
				ordinarily supplies, and shall in no way relieve the assisted living community
				of the obligation to insure that such necessary goods are available to the
				resident.
(q) Each
				resident must have the right to receive or reject medical care, dental care, or
				other services by those authorized and/or licensed to provide such medical care
				except as required by law or regulations.
(r) Each resident must have the right to
				choose and retain the services of a personal physician and any other health
				care professional or service. No assisted living community is permitted to
				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, must have the right to be fully informed about care provided
				in the community and of any changes in that care and the right of access to all
				information in medical records retained by the community.
(s) Each resident must have the right to
				fully participate in the planning of his or her care and to question the need
				for changes in the plan of care. Case discussion, consultation and examination
				must be confidential and conducted discreetly. A person who is not directly
				involved in the resident's care may be present when care is being rendered only
				if he or she has the resident's permission. The resident's duly appointed legal
				surrogate(s) shall have the authority to act on the resident's behalf as
				established by written applicable federal and state of Georgia law, and shall
				be entitled to receive information relevant to the exercise of his or her
				authority.
(t) Each resident,
				representative or legal surrogate must have the right to inspect his or her
				records on request. Each resident must have the right to make a copy of all
				records pertaining to the resident on the premises or obtain a copy from the
				community. The community may charge a fee for providing photocopies of the
				records, but such charge may not exceed what is charged by the local library
				for photocopies. Each resident has the right to confidential treatment of
				personal information in the resident file.
(u) Each resident who has not been committed
				to the assisted living community 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 30
				days written notification to the assisted living community in conformance with
				the assisted living community's policies and procedures.
(v) Each resident must 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 assigned
				to the assisted living community must be posted in a common area of the
				assisted living community.
(w)
				Residents must have the right to form a Resident Council and have meetings in
				the assisted living community outside the presence of owners, management or
				staff members of the assisted living community and the assisted living
				community must provide assistance in coordinating the meetings of the Resident
				Council.