Nursing Home Neglect
Did you know that 1 in 3 elders fall victim to nursing home neglect? This is a frightening statistic. However, there are many avenues that you can take to avoid this situation. First, let’s talk about what elder neglect is. Elder neglect can consist of nursing home neglect, falling victim to financial theft, or even physical abuse. Today we are breaking down these topics.
What exactly is nursing home neglect? We have received this question before and would like to answer here on our blog for you! According to the CDC, nursing home neglect is the following: “Neglect is the failure to meet an older adult’s basic needs. These needs include food, water, shelter, clothing, hygiene, and essential medical care.” Unfortunately, this can happen when nursing homes are under staffed and undereducated. While there are some amazing nursing homes, there are many who truly do not care about their patients. Failing to bathe, dress, or feed your loved one can absolutely cause direct harm.
Other types of harm, financial and physical, deserve to be talked about as well. It may be easy for nursing home staff or other loved ones to get away with such abuse as elders may not be fully capable of speaking out due to health conditions. This is why it is so important to look out for signs. A few things that you should be on the lookout for on behalf of your elder are:
bedsores
unexplained weight loss
bruises
fractures and other broken bones
infections
There are other signs to look out for, but these are some common ones. Many nursing homes do treat their elders with respect, however some do not. If you have a loved one who is in this situation, we are here to fight on their behalf. We hope this article was helpful, and give us a call if you are in the process of fighting for a loved one.
