Nation must act to strengthen aid for elderly

During the holidays, we naturally reminisce upon the past and reinvigorate ourselves for posterity. The American people wisely reflect upon the state of our nation and those nearest to our hearts. With so much focus upon the travails of the youth and the plethora of proposals to ease their concerns, such as misguided student loan bailouts and the pernicious pro-Palestinian protests in our streets, we often forget the bedrock of our families: our elders.

As the year comes to a close, I remind my fellow citizens of the crucial nature of updating our federal laws to ensure our oldest Americans are properly protected in assisted living and memory care facilities.

As it stands, metrics such as reporting falls, injuries, complaints, errors or omissions in medical treatment, doctor/nurse response times, percentage of staff properly trained, purposeful physical harm, theft, entrapment, forced isolation and other forms of abuse are not required at assisted living and memory care locations.

Additionally, this data is essentially inaccessible for the families of the affected without a FOIA request, thereby making an incredibly sensitive situation nearly unbearable for loved ones. On the heels of a global pandemic where our senior citizens suffered a torturous existence in silence, the least we can do for them is update our federal statutes to right the injustices they endure every day.

State-by-state solutions are unacceptable to an issue that determines the strength of any civilized society. I implore the United States Congress to introduce legislation to report metrics for all facilities that house aging populations as well as guarantee transparency in the public domain. If we fail to safeguard our seniors, who serve as the foundation of our personal and political moral code, we risk descending into a future wholly void of the character necessary to preserve our sacred freedoms.

Henry J. Wilson

Washington ,D.C.