MDHS Highlights Long Term Care Residents’ Rights Month, October 2025
Ensuring the health, safety, welfare, and rights of residents in long-term care facilities.
Across the state of Mississippi, residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, along with family members, Ombudsman program representatives, citizen advocates, facility staff, and others, will honor the individual rights of long-term care residents by celebrating Residents’ Rights Month. Residents’ Rights Month is an annual event held in October to celebrate and focus on awareness of dignity, respect, and the value of long-term care residents living in skilled nursing facilities or assisted living facilities across the state.
Residents have the right to self-determination and to use their voice to make their own choices. This year’s Residents’ Rights Month theme, Stand with Me, highlights the importance of solidarity and support for residents who stand up and advocate for their rights, as well as the value of encouraging the community to join residents in sharing their voices.
“Residents and the community need to come together for support when facing challenges in long-term care,” said Shelby Walker, Mississippi’s State Long Term Care Ombudsman. “This year’s Residents’ Rights Month theme shows how residents, staff, family members, long-term care Ombudsman program representatives, and other advocates can work together as a collective to promote quality care and quality of life for residents.”
During the month of October, the Mississippi Long Term Ombudsman Program, in collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Human Services and Area Agencies on Aging, will highlight the importance of engaging residents of long-term care facilities and their families through social media and in facilities across Mississippi.
The Nursing Home Reform Law, passed in 1987, guarantees nursing home residents their individual rights, including but not limited to: individualized care, respect, dignity, the right to visitation, the right to privacy, the right to complain, and the right to make independent choices. Residents who have made their home in other types of facilities, such as assisted living, adult care homes, and other long-term care residences, maintain their rights as U.S. citizens. Residents’ Rights Month raises awareness about these rights and pays tribute to the unique contributions of long-term care residents.
The Mississippi Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program serves residents in long-term care facilities and their families. The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman provides services that protect the health, safety, welfare, and rights of residents through leadership, oversight, and monitoring. The Older Americans Act authorizes the Ombudsman Program, and the Ombudsman services are always confidential and free.
An Ombudsman is an individual who advocates for the rights of residents living in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes or assisted living facilities. An Ombudsman can literally serve as the voice of a resident even when the resident can no longer use his or her own voice due to age or infirmity.
The Ombudsman can help with:
- Residents’ rights
- Environmental concerns
- Discharge and eviction
- Personal care concerns
- Quality of life issues
Contact the Mississippi statewide Long-Term Ombudsman Help Line: 1.888.844.0041 or visit Long-Term Care Ombudsman – Mississippi Department of Human Services to learn more.