Janice - And her Daughter Received Support from Mary Intake Advocate over the Phone
Janice* is 69 years old and suffers from anxiety but has never been diagnosed with a mental illness. Recently, Janice suffered from a urinary tract infection (UTI) and became delusional and confused. She went to the emergency room (ER) and explained her symptoms to them but the ER staff stated that they didn’t know why she was delusional and confused. Janice was concerned for her mental health so she checked herself into the Neuropsychiatric Hospital. It was determined that Janice’s UTI was so severe that it caused her delusions and confusion. After receiving injectable antibiotics for 7 days, her UTI was gone and her delusions stopped. The hospital staff told Janice that she would be released in a few days and moved her to a room with another patient.
After moving rooms, the hospital staff told Janice that her discharge was delayed and they were not sure when she would be allowed to leave. During this uncertain time, Janice was attacked by her roommate. Her roommate was following her and telling her to “leave my home” and, that evening, her roommate attacked her as she was leaving the bathroom. Janice was struck in the back of head and neck and had her hair yanked by her roommate. Janice repeatedly called for help and hospital staff came to the room and wrestled the roommate to the floor. After the attack, the roommate was allowed to remain in the same room as Janice. During that night, Janice reported that she would wake to find her roommate standing over her, pulling off her blanket, and unplugging her CPAP machine. Not surprisingly, Janice feared for her life.
At this point, Janice’s daughter, Hillary*, called Indiana Disability Rights for help in understanding how the hospital could delay Janice’s discharge after Janice had been told that she did not have a mental illness and her UTI had been treated. Mary Alter, Intake Advocate, listened to Hillary and advised her to review the “Rights of Adults Receiving Treatment in an Indiana Mental Health Facility (The Purple Book)” and have her mother call IDR Intake. Hillary stated that she was concerned that her mother would not be able to contact IDR Intake herself so she requested that Mary call Janice.
Mary called Janice and quickly learned of the attack by her roommate. Mary requested that an advocate be sent to the hospital on a monitoring visit to determine what was going on and if IDR advocacy was needed. When IDR attempt to contact Janice again, IDR learned that she had been discharged so Mary called Hillary to make sure Janice was okay. Hillary reported that after reviewing the “Purple Book” she felt confident in her knowledge of her mother’s rights and was prepared to advocate on her behalf. She had spent most of the previous afternoon on the phone with the CEO of the hospital questioning the reasons that her mother’s discharge has been delayed. The CEO insisted that Janice must remain in the hospital because it needed to be determined who started the fight because the roommate stated that Janice attacked her. Hillary questioned why her mother would have been the one calling for help and the hospital staff pulled the roommate off of Janice if Janice started the fight. In the same conversation, the CEO stated that there was video footage to review first and then contradicted herself by stating that there was no video footage. Hillary continued to advocate for her mother using the information that she learned from the “Purple Book” and, after a long discussion, the CEO agreed to discharge Janice.
While we are extremely disappointed that Janice had to experience this trauma while trying to do what was best for her mental health, we are proud of Hillary for seeking resources, calling IDR, educating herself, and advocating for her mother. Kudos to Mary for providing support and resources so Janice may return home and start the healing process.
*Names changed.