2014-2015 REPORT ON NATIONAL PREVENTION OF TORTURE programmes; where physical restraint measures were applied to residents (medical belts, placement into the isolation room), decisions regarding their use were made not by a medical doctor, but by the administration of a care institution, and the application of such measures was not registered. the door before entering the rooms; at the time of washing and bathing the residents who are not able to do that themselves, screens were not used, privacy was not ensured during medical check-ups; there were no separate premises (a private space) for private meetings with family or friends, or where two residents could spend some time together; individuals did not always have a possibility to use all the cutlery. 6. Regarding the adequate number and competence of the staff – Not in all care institutions the composition and number of the staff (24 hours a day) met the needs of residents; and not all the staff took part in training programmes on the rights of the disabled or the elderly. The majority of recommendations addressed to care institutions were related to the installation and proper functioning of the emergency alert system; also, several recommendations were provided regarding these issues: encouragement of independence of persons kept in institutions, appropriate organisation of leisure, ensuring privacy, accessibility of institutions’entrances and premises for the disabled, drawing up individual social care plans and participation of residents therein, appropriate provision of relevant information, and proper application of physical restraint measures; in addition, practically all institutions were advised to organise, as possible, training to the staff on protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rights of the disabled. 4. Regarding individual care and encouragement of independence – Not in all care institutions individual social care plans were drawn up for residents following an assessment of their needs, or such plans were drawn up without the participation of residents, and the independence of residents was insufficiently encouraged: there were no appropriate conditions for residents to cook themselves (there was a lack of crockery and cutlery), there was no possibility to express their preferences with regard to foodstuffs and/or choice of dishes, or to independently develop skills by washing their clothes, etc.; individuals were not encouraged or taught to use a computer and the Internet; they were not encouraged to learn alternative communication skills such as Braille and/ or the sign language. 5. Regarding provided health care services – Not in all care institutions health care services were provided in compliance with the requirements of legal acts regulating provision of such services: there were no residents’ signatures (regarding consent to or refusal of treatment prescribed to them) next to entries in medical histories of residents; residents were not notified of having an oncological disease; they were not offered to make use of state-funded preventive health care In 2015, the Seimas Ombudsmen assessed the human rights situation in nineteen institutions of social care (for disabled adults and the elderly): The following are the main problems and human rights violations identified: 1. In 10 (ten) care institutions of Kaunas county, namely, public institution Rumšiškės Care Home for the Elderly “Auksinis Amžius”, 11