I recently had the privilege of attending “Congregate Care: Legal Issues Facing Residents, Families & Substitute Decision-Makers,” a Continuing Professional Development program organized by the OBA Elder Law Section. The program provided 3.5 hours of content about the rights of residents in long-term care and retirement homes, the role of substitute decision-makers in those settings, and the rights of hospital patients related to discharge planning.
The theme I noticed through all of the presentations was the importance of communication with residents, patients, and their substitute decision-makers. Craig Thompson from the Office of the Patient Ombudsman stated that lack of communication is an issue in every complaint the office receives and better communication would go a long way to avoiding complaints.
The theme of communication was also evident in the presentations on resident and patient rights. Both the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 (LTCHA) and the Retirement Homes Act, 2010 (RHA) specify information that people must receive when they move into these residences. There is also a detailed list of information in the LTCHA that must be provided when individuals apply for long-term care home admission. The information-sharing requirements in these statutes recognize the importance of thorough communication for ensuring that people understand their options and provide informed consent for whatever option they choose. Communication seems to be fundamental to protecting rights. Unfortunately, the experience of the presenters was that residents, patients, and their substitute decision-makers do not always receive or understand the prescribed information.
We live in an unprecedented era in terms of the tools available to us to communicate. E-mail has been widely available for the past 25 years, and information can now be posted instantly through multiple social media forums. However, based on the presentations I heard, meeting the continuing need for interpersonal communication is still a challenge, at least when we are providing health and social services.
As I plan my course selection for my final year of law school, I am paying more attention to courses that enhance my communication skills, such as courses in ADR and negotiation, thanks to the presentations I heard on June 8. Of course, communication is key to a successful law practice. The number one cause of claims to the Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company (LawPRO) in almost every area of law is a breakdown in lawyer-client communication.[i] The lawyer and client disagree on what was or was not said and done. The two most common factors in creating communication problems are rushing communications and communicating by e-mail. Clients and lawyers tend to read information into e-mails that is not there.
Perhaps if I go back to the basics in my learning of how to listen and talk to ensure parties understand each other I will succeed in communicating well with my future clients and can counsel professionals in other fields to do the same. Protecting someone’s rights could be as simple, in some cases, as ensuring people have the information to know the choices available to them to meet their needs. Legal rights and remedies for older adults have limited value when many older adults, and those providing services to them, struggle to locate information about rights and responsibilities under the law.[ii]
I extend my thanks to the organizers and speakers of the OBA Elder Law CPD program for devoting their time to provide this session so that I could obtain these insights for my law career. I look forward to future professional development sessions sponsored by the OBA Elder Law Section.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Angela Yenssen is a summer law student at the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee.