Nursing home residents deserve dignity. They shouldn't be forced to room with strangers.

Mike DeWine is governor of Ohio.

It is easy to take the comforts of home for granted.

Home is where we feel most secure and are best able to express ourselves; the ultimate safe haven and source of great personal pride.

Unfortunately, these comforts are not available to thousands of Ohio nursing home residents without a private room to call their own.

Even though national studies tell us as many as 82% of long-term care residents prefer a private room (and only four percent prefer a multi-resident room), the majority of Ohio nursing home residents still share a room with another person — and often, residents do not have a say in who that person is.

During my time as governor, I have been proud to lead a series of initiatives aimed at reimagining our nursing home system to one that puts residents first and prioritizes quality.

Last year, I launched Ohio’s Nursing Home Quality and Accountability Task Force. As this group traveled the state, speaking with residents and families about their lived experiences, one of the top requests we heard was people saying they wanted private rooms.

If we truly want to do right by these Ohioans, the next step is clear. Every nursing home resident in our state who wants a private room should be able to get one.

The good news is that we are now in the process of making this goal a reality.

Why private rooms matter in nursing homes

With the support of the General Assembly, I recently tasked our Ohio Department of Medicaid with developing a plan that would incentivize nursing homes to work alongside us to make privacy a priority.

After hearing from us about the benefits of our proposal, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has given us the green light to move forward.

Private rooms increase resident and family satisfaction. They provide people with the level of autonomy, comfort, and dignity they expect – and deserve – out of the place they call home . This is particularly important to those requiring specialty care, considering how personal the experience of receiving care can be.

Opinion: Stakes for older Ohioans could not be higher as nursing homes struggle with nurse shortage

Many nursing home residents require assistance with tasks such as bathing, dressing, eating, or using the bathroom.

Needing help with these tasks, and then being forced to share these experiences with a roommate, can understandably result in people feeling stripped of their privacy and dignity.

Perhaps even more importantly, private rooms produce better health outcomes. Multiple studies in hospital settings have shown that shifting from shared rooms to private rooms immediately, substantially, and sustainably reduces the risk of acquiring and spreading potential infections.

This same principle is especially critical for nursing home residents, who can be particularly susceptible to severe outcomes if they get sick.

In long-term care settings, private rooms also result in improved sleep patterns , and have been shown to reduce agitation and aggressive behavior among those with dementia.

Our strategy to increase the number of private rooms is a win for nursing home residents and is also supported by the nursing home industry.

This foundational change is the type of bold action needed to achieve our vision of maximizing the quality of care and quality of life in nursing homes, and to continue our ongoing efforts to provide residents a level of comfort that truly feels like home .

Mike DeWine is governor of Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Nursing home residents deserve dignity. They shouldn't be forced to room with strangers.