If you have ever put a loved one into a nursing home, then you know the care and deep thought that you placed in the process. This is not something that you do half-heartedly and without forethought, planning, and attention to detail. Instead, it is one of the biggest decisions that you ever make in your life and it means a lot.
When your loved one enters a nursing home, you assume that they will be taken care of and will remain safe and happy at all times. But the troubling truth is that nursing home abuse does exist, and it’s a problem far bigger than most people assume or know.
According to a study by the National Council on Aging, approximately 10% of elderly individuals experience some form of abuse, and the majority of cases go unreported.
There is no doubt that nursing home abuse is a distressing issue that affects vulnerable elderly people who depend on these facilities for care, good health, and support.
In recent years, there has been increasing worry about the growth of abuse and neglect within these nursing homes, highlighting the need for increased awareness, regulation, and accountability. People rely on nursing homes to take care of the most vulnerable people among us and if they aren’t doing their job and actively hurting the people they are supposed to tend to, the situation is obviously quite bad and in need of serious change.
It is time to take a deeper, hard look at nursing home abuse, but that means that you must have a solid, deep understanding of what it is, what it looks like, who it affects people, and how it affects them too.
For starters, some terminology needs to be cleared up. The term “nursing home abuse” generally describes diverse forms of mistreatment, ranging from physical and emotional abuse to neglect and financial crimes too.
One of the significant challenges in addressing this very troubling, dangerous, and criminal issue is that the victims often face difficulties in turning the abusers in because of physical and cognitive issues that they are suffering from. At the same time, family members may not be fully aware of the signs or may not visit frequently enough to notice potential problems.
Because of all this, nursing home abuse has become a secret – and growing – problem that is plaguing people all over the world.
Types Of Nursing Home Abuse
There are sadly many types of nursing home abuse that are all too prevelant these days. To truly find the root of these problems and then eliminate them, you need to understand the different ways that people take advantage of those living in nursing homes.
Physical Abuse
Perhaps one of the most troubling types of abuse is the physical kind. It is shocking to even think about the possibility but physical abuse in nursing homes is a problem that has cause great harm to many. It usually involves the intentional use of force that results in physical harm or injury to an elderly resident. This could include hitting, slapping, or restraining the individual inappropriately. But there is also emotional abuse that can have a devastating impact on nursing home residents. This type of abuse manifests through verbal insults, threats, or humiliation, and causes psychological problems, fears, and anxieties to the residents.
Neglect
Neglect is another serious problem in nursing homes. This is when residents do not receive the required care and attention for their health and well-being. This may include insufficient food and water supplies, poor hygiene, and inadequate medical attention too.
Neglect can lead to a decline in health and also aggravate existing medical conditions. In the end, this will ultimately compromise the quality of a resident’s life.
What Leads To Nursing Home Abuse
The factors contributing to nursing home abuse are complex and that makes the issue even harder to solve. There are many elements at play here, and they all feed into the abuse and make it harder to minimize or eliminate entirely.
Understaffing is a common issue in many facilities and this leads to overwhelmed caregivers and lacking supervision, allowing abuse to run rampant and be left unchecked. Poor training and shoddy background checks for staff can also contribute to an environment where abuse is more likely to spring up.
In some cases, a lack of oversight and accountability within the nursing home industry allows this criminal and heartless behavior to stick around. Facilities may prioritize the amount of their profits over the well-being of their residents, which will of course lead to a culture of neglect and mistreatment. Additionally, the fear of retaliation or legal consequences may deter victims from reporting abuse. They may fear that they will be without a home or medicine if they speak up and talk about the abuse they are experiencing.
Everyone has the ability to limit and eventually eliminate nursing home abuse, they just need to know how.
Conclusion
It is only through a comprehensive and compassionate approach that we can hope to address the root causes of nursing home abuse and ensure the well-being of our elderly population.
The residents who live in nursing homes rely on the rest of us to make sure that they are safe and happy and if we let them down, we are truly doing a major injustice to one of the most vulnerable groups among us. It is vital that this is addressed and fixed as soon as possible because it’s a true statement about our entire society as a whole. Contact our attorneys for help seeking justice for nursing home abuse.
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