Quality of life is a fundamental principle that applies to all care and services provided to facility residents. Each resident must receive and the facility must provide the necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being, consistent with the resident's comprehensive assessment and plan of care.

(a) Based on the comprehensive assessment of a resident and consistent with the resident's needs and choices, the facility must provide the necessary care and services to ensure that a resident's abilities in activities of daily living do not diminish unless circumstances of the individual's clinical condition demonstrate that such diminution was unavoidable. This includes the facility ensuring that:

(1) A resident is given the appropriate treatment and services to maintain or improve his or her ability to carry out the activities of daily living, including those specified in paragraph (b) of this section,

(2) A resident who is unable to carry out activities of daily living receives the necessary services to maintain good nutrition, grooming, and personal and oral hygiene, and

(3) Personnel provide basic life support, including CPR, to a resident requiring such emergency care prior to the arrival of emergency medical personnel and subject to related physician orders and the resident's advance directives.

(b) Activities of daily living. The facility must provide care and services in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section for the following activities of daily living:

(1) Hygiene—bathing, dressing, grooming, and oral care,

(2) Mobility—transfer and ambulation, including walking,

(3) Elimination—toileting,

(4) Dining—eating, including meals and snacks,

(5) Communication, including

(i) Speech,

(ii) Language,

(iii) Other functional communication systems.

(c) Activities.

(1) The facility must provide, based on the comprehensive assessment and care plan and the preferences of each resident, an ongoing program to support residents in their choice of activities, both facility-sponsored group and individual activities and independent activities, designed to meet the interests of and support the physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident, encouraging both independence and interaction in the community.

(2) The activities program must be directed by a qualified professional who is a qualified therapeutic recreation specialist or an activities professional who—

(i) Is licensed or registered, if applicable, by the State in which practicing; and

(ii) Is:

(A) Eligible for certification as a therapeutic recreation specialist or as an activities professional by a recognized accrediting body on or after October 1, 1990; or

(B) Has 2 years of experience in a social or recreational program within the last 5 years, one of which was full-time in a therapeutic activities program; or

(C) Is a qualified occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant; or

(D) Has completed a training course approved by the State.

[81 FR 68859, Oct. 4, 2016]