A few other residents shared their own first day experience.  Then, Cleta Shelton, the community developer with a passionate respect for elders who is an activity professional, a former certified nursing assistant, and a minister in her church said, "Elizabeth, every time a new person comes to our community, we sing our resident rights song to them.  It's our way of letting you know that this is a place where we respect your rights.  Do you mind if we sing to you?"

"Okay," said Elizabeth tentatively, apparently not knowing what to expect and cautious about joining this group.  "I guess that will be all right."

The Live Oak Resident Rights Song was collectively written by a group of about 20 residents in response to a question by Debby Barkan, herself a culture change pioneer and my partner in this work almost since the beginning. "What is the best way to teach new members of the community that they have rights?" she asked.

Let's write a song that tells people that they have rights, was the consensus response of the elders.

The federal mandate of resident rights in every nursing home throughout the land is one of the great victories in the cultural revolution. However, as the social worker at the time, Debby felt that reading each resident her rights is a legalistic experience that does not sufficiently convey the good news and is actually culturally regressive. 

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