Complaint Investigation Report

It was also alleged that the staff did not allow R1 to wear their own clothing of choice because the staff chooses it for him/her, including undergarments as it was stated that the staff are only giving R1 pull ups options instead of underwear.

6 staff members were interviewed. Based on staff interview, it was stated that when R1 first transitioned into the memory care unit the staff were made aware by R1’s family that R1 had tendencies to shuffle his/her clean and dirty clothes and reuse dirty clothes. During R1’s transition into memory care, the facility’s approach with R1 was orienting him/her to the new environment before implementing hands on care, as R1 was previously not receiving any hands-on care. It was stated that staff continued to supervise, monitor, provide stand-by assistance, and provide R1 with verbal cues and reminders when necessary.

Staff stated that when they observed R1 was reusing his/her dirty clothing, the staff would verbally prompt R1 to change his/her clothes. It was stated that R1 had a certain clothing item that he/she liked to wear and if he/she saw it in the dirty pile, R1 would take it and wear it. The facility staff informed R1’s family (authorized representative) of their concerns.

Staff stated that when they tried to verbally redirect R1 from reusing dirty clothing, R1 would get verbally aggressive with staff and ask staff to leave him/her alone as he/she was “not a kid”.

After discussing the concern with R1’s authorized representative, the facility staff and R1's authorized representative agreed to separate R1’s clothes in storage bins and place a lock on the dirty clothing bin to prevent R1 from getting into his/her dirty clothes. Staff stated since implementation of the clean/dirty storage bins, it has helped reduce R1 reusing dirty clothing.

5 out of 5 staff members stated that the staff are trained to provide residents who are unable to fully decide for themselves 2 options of outfits to choose from.