When most people hear the word elopement, their minds immediately jump to excited newlyweds. But if you work in caring for the elderly, elopement probably has a different connotation for you.
At a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE), elopement is decidedly not a happy occasion. Instead, it’s a major risk.
Risks all around: Elopement at RCFEs
In the elderly care world, elopement happens when one of your residents leaves without your staff’s knowledge. That means they step outside of the supervision and support that they may need.
That obviously presents a risk to them. They could get lost or miss an important dose of their medication. In unfamiliar environments, the risk of a trip-and-fall incident goes up significantly. It’s not a safe situation for them.
It’s not a safe one for you, either. When the resident moved into your RCFE, the contract you all signed established a baseline of care. Elopement removes the resident from that protective arrangement.
The resident or their family could hold you liable for any resulting issues. If the resident gets hurt, for example, they could argue that negligent supervision or inadequate staffing was the cause. If the resident has exhibited wandering behavior in the past, you’re even more likely to be found liable. That’s a risk your team should have assessed, then addressed through the resident’s care plan.
Mitigating the risks of elopement
Elopement presents threats to the resident and to your RCFE. Minimizing the risk here means taking protective steps on both counts: for the individual and for your facility.
Reducing elopement with individualized care
A wandering risk assessment should be part of your intake process. Ask the resident and their family about any history of elopements or patterns of confusion that could lead to wandering.
Some families won’t readily disclose this information because they don’t want to harm their family member’s chance of being accepted into your facility. That’s okay. Make a record of precisely what the family shares. That way, if you do end up with an elopement, you have documentation showing that the family indicated there was low risk here. That helps to limit your liability.
If you learn that a resident has a proclivity for wandering, develop a plan to keep tabs on them. That could mean assigning staff members to check on them periodically throughout the day. You might take technological measures, too, like door alarms or wearable sensors.
Reducing fallout from elopement with insurance
Even with a robust elopement prevention plan, you might still end up with an incident. That’s why it’s so important to have the right insurance coverage in place.
Liability insurance can step in if you find your facility in court because a resident’s family is trying to hold you responsible. You may need a combination of both professional and general liability insurance for optimal coverage here.
Our team can help you figure out what policies you need, and at what limits, based on your residents and their wandering risk. To put an elopement defense in place, contact our team at InsureMyRCFE at (805) 413-5668 today.
