Nursing Home Abuse Serious Issue, Report Says

It’s probably comforting to think about nursing home abuse as a rarified circumstance. Unfortunately, according to a new study, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Medical Daily recently ran a report detailing research done by the Elder Maltreatment Alliance. The results of that study were shocking. According to the report, anywhere between 3 and 5 million elderly adults were the victims of some sort of abuse.

Some Abuse Isn’t Obvious

The story references a type of abuse that gets less press than the more gruesome types that often make it into the news. The story regards a woman, who was worth $300 million, and how she was hounded by visitors asking for donations. This type of exploitation is common but sometimes doesn’t get characterized as abuse, as there is no physical harm done. The reason that it does qualify as abuse, however, is because it is most certainly a form of exploitation in that someone of assumedly diminished mental capacity is being preyed upon actively by people who want that person’s money.
Theft and other forms of exploitation are also common forms of abuse.

Other Abuse

The report also references a study from Michigan State University that center on physical abuse. This study involved a sample of 452 adults who had someone in a nursing home in the state of Michigan. The research was conducted over the phone.
The results indicated that approximately 25% of those who responded did have one incident when someone in a nursing home was abused by the staff within the year leading up to the survey.
The study also indicated that behavior problems, limitations in self-reliance and being a victim prior to the reported incident were all indicators that someone had a greater likelihood of being abused.

Things to Watch For

If someone in your family is in a nursing home, be particularly wary for abuse if they have dementia or another condition that impairs their abilities to think and to communicate. This is sometimes an indicator that they are at a greater likelihood of being abused. Be careful for financial exploitation, as well, even if your relative isn’t particularly wealthy. It happens more than people tend to think.
Contact Dallas nursing home abuse lawyers if someone in your family was exploited or abused in a nursing home and if you want to file a lawsuit for compensation.