LTCCC Report: Animal Care Standards vs. Nursing Home Resident Experiences

The quality and safety of nursing homes are longstanding public concerns. Numerous studies over the years have identified widespread and significant deficiencies in care, including serious abuse and neglect, and degrading, inhumane conditions.

In light of these concerns, and the widespread persistence of substandard care and abuse, we undertook this analysis to compare the experiences of nursing home residents with the basic standards of care for animals. Can animals in a zoo or kennel expect better treatment and conditions than that which many human nursing home residents actually receive?

The following report provides the results of our findings in relation to 11 key categories of interest and concern. Click on a button on the right hand side to download an Issue Brief on any of the categories covered in the report.

Please Note: The point of this work is not to trivialize the experiences of either nursing home residents or animals but, rather, to illustrate how systemic failures to hold nursing homes accountable for abuse and neglect too often subject residents to conditions that not only fall below the federal nursing home standards of care, but also below accepted standards for the humane treatment of animals.