The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on May 23 providing information on state long-term care ombudsman programs. The report describes the role of the long-term care ombudsman, how workload and staffing have changed in recent years, and challenges commonly faced by ombudsman programs. Unsurprisingly, many of the challenges faced by the ombudsman programs mirror those reported by nursing homes.

Among the findings reported:

• increases in the complexity of cases and resident needs including mental health, substance misuse, and cognitive impairment.
• challenges arising from resource limitations such as underfunding
• challenges in keeping up with new cases due to an expansion of assisted living communities.

Read the report here.