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Hello List mates:
I am very sorry for the long delay in summarizing the many responses  
to my enquiry from a couple of months ago. (I had misplaced the  
summaries that I printed out & only recently discovered them).

  My original enquiry was for information asking if nursing homes/ 
assisted living facilities must accommodate celiacs under the  
guidelines of the ADA. My 102 year-old Mother will need to be moved  
to an assisted living facility and we are finding many places that  
will not consider her because of the celiac diet.
Unfortunately from the many responses I received there appears to be  
no clear-cut answer to this problem. The following are helpful  
suggestions with my response in brackets:

1. "I am absolutely sure that facilities serving the public need to  
accommodate dietary restrictions under disabilities law. I would say  
that there need to be cases that are pressed on this issue to  
establish case law."  [This probably needs to happen but we are not  
willing to press this issue with a 102 year-old person].
2.  "After choosing a facility ask them if they have had training in  
special diets".  [We have found that facilities inform us up front  
over the phone that they will not consider admitting her because of  
the special diet].
3.  "Some states have DIAs (Department of Inspections & Appeals that  
function under Medicare Rules & Regulations. If a physician has  
ordered a gf diet hospitals must provide it".  [Don't know if other  
facilities are under the same regulations].
4.  Check out these websites:
www.ada.gov/reachingout/lesson12.htm
www.ada.gov/mediate.htm
www.itimagazine.com (an excellent article in the December 2008  
archive issue) An article written for nursing home administrators by  
Ronni Alicea, RD MBA entitled Gluten-Free in Residential Care  
Facilities. [I have printed this out & will bring it to one of the  
facilities that would not consider taking my Mother].
www.celinalfoods.com  [information about single serve shelf stable  
microwave gf meals].
www.diet.com/dietblogs/read_blog.php?title=Gluten-Free+Meals+For+The 
+Elderly&blid=12797 [An excellent article written by Tricia Thompson  
MS/RD].
www.eldercare.gov/Eldercare.NET/Public/Resources/fact_sheets/ 
assisted_living.aspx
5.  "Talk to a lawyer who specializes in Social Security disability  
claims & ask for a free consultation".  [I have not yet done this].
6.  "Businesses are usually only required to provide 'reasonable  
accommodation' - which does not mean starting to serve gluten-free  
meals to a single customer if that causes a significant increase in  
cost or labor to the business".
7.  "Contact the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America at  
www.gluten.net.  They will support you".
8.  "The ADA does include allergies in the list of required  
accomodations for the general world. This should mean one of two  
things, an upswing in GF food being availible and that you can force  
accomodation. This may be dangerous to your mother, who might be  
punished in some facilities".
9. "Check out the Gluten-Free Resource Education and Awareness  
Training (GREAT) program created by The National Foundation for  
Celiac Awareness (NFCA). They have developed a program to provide  
comprehensive information for food service and healthcare  
professionals".
10.  "Contact Andrea Levario of the American Celiac Disease Alliance  
and she if she can help".  [I did make contact and never got a  
response].

In closing I'd like to quote from another person who said: "This is  
work that needs to be undertaken. All of us will be there one day and  
these facilities need to be forced to step up to the plate. Once they  
understand that they have to do this and that it can be done  
relatively easily, the job will be done".  [I couldn't agree more!]

Mary in NH


  

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