Patricia Marton
Elder abuse prevention advocate
I have been rereading the (McLean County) Mental Health Action Plan, and continue to be impressed by the material and names that are included. However, there are still questions that I would like to have answered.
They include the effects the plan could have on the elderly, not only in private homes and nursing facilities, but in public facilities that they frequent. Namely are the people running such facilities capable both intellectually and emotionally of handling difficult situations that might arise, and how can we determine this.
For abuse of the elderly continues to be a world wide phenomena.
What can we do to help? We must, I believe, continue to tighten and implement hiring procedures, Here we can draw on the police for suggestions and support, for they have detailed procedures that they follow to ensure that their applicants are equipped for the job. This includes not only background checks, but oral interviews before a panel, physical exams, and moreover psychological exams and lie detector tests. Indeed, one officer that I met at a recent coffee gathering had a degree in psychology from the University of Illinois.
Some of these procedures could and should be interpolated into our hiring programs in public facilities. For, as many of us already know, such facilities are not always safe places, especially those dealing with people of disparate ages, and we need astute administrations that can both acknowledge and deal with this, and not pretend that it doesn’t exist.
It’s also up to all of you (the City Council), for you are elected to take care both of the city’s institutions, and the people who live here. And to be aware of our needs and fears, and develop procedures that can protect us, especially those of us who are particularly vulnerable, for the legal penalties against those who harm us are particularly strong. Many of you are also older citizens, and should be proud of this, which should give you an additional impetus to do this.
Also, the City of Bloomington is an entity unto itself, though part of a county of towns and villages. While we should cooperate with our neighbors, we must also make our own decisions as to what is best for ourselves.
Finally, I spoke to both Laura Beavers of the Health Department and Tom Barr of the Center for Human Services— both highly recommend the Mental Health First Aid programs sponsored by a number of community organizations as a mean of identifying the signs and signals of mental illness. These programs last throughout the whole year. This is another way we can learn to help each other too.