LONG-TERM CARE RESIDENTS' RIGHTS MONTH
2024
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, individuals, groups and long-term care facilities across the country will be celebrating Residents’ Rights Month with the theme, The Power of My Voice, which emphasizes self-empowerment and recognizes the power of residents being vocal about their interests, personal growth, and right to live full and enriching lives; and
WHEREAS, residents in long-term care have the right to self-determination and to use their voices to make their own choices; the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 guarantees residents their individual rights in order to promote and maintain their dignity, autonomy, and individuality; and
WHEREAS, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted legislation to protect the rights of residents in nursing homes through the Patients’ Bill of Rights and those in adult care homes through the Residents’ Bill of Rights; and
WHEREAS, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program was created under the Federal Older Americans Act and by the General Assembly to ensure residents in facilities are afforded the same considerations and opportunities to exercise their basic freedoms that individuals in the community take for granted; and
WHEREAS, a concerned individual can be an effective advocate for a single resident; the work of over 400 volunteer Community Advisory Committee members, appointed by local boards of county commissioners, are making a significant difference in the lives of residents statewide; and
WHEREAS, there are approximately 53,300 individuals living in nursing homes and 40,000 individuals living in adult care facilities in North Carolina; residents should be informed of their rights so they may be empowered to live with dignity and self-determination;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim October, 2024, as “LONG-TERM CARE RESIDENTS' RIGHTS MONTH” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.
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Roy Cooper
Governor
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-fifth day of September in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.