According to an article appearing in the Tennessean.com concerning elder abuse, only 1 out of 23 cases usually gets reported to authorities.
How can this happen? The article states that the primary reason is that our elderly loved ones often have very limited access to the outside world, due to the control of those who are their caregivers – and who inflict the biggest part of the abuse on our family members. Since caregivers have this control over residents of nursing homes in some instances, the abuse never gets reported to authorities.
While some people think of abuse as striking or physically assaulting someone, there are many forms of abuse. In a nursing home, elder abuse can be anything from intentional isolation to neglecting to provide food and medications on time. Our elderly loved ones are also often frightened that they may be punished, so they do not report these incidents to either family members or authorities at the facility.
Sometimes, family members are too quick to ignore symptoms of abuse or neglect; they are oblivious to the fact that abuse does take place at a nursing home or elder care facility. While we should be able to trust in the fact that our loved ones are getting great care in these facilities and are well provided for, this is often not the case.
For those of you with loved ones in a nursing home, the following may indicate that your family member is being abused, although these symptoms certainly do not prove abuse:
Bed sores
Abrupt change in behavior
Disturbed or changed sleeping patterns
Dirty living conditions
Bed sores
Fractures/unknown bruising
Withdrawal
Substantial withdrawals from bank accounts
The sooner that authorities are contacted after suspected abuse or neglect, the more likely the perpetrator inflicting the abuse will be caught. Elderly people offer suffer from dementia and other conditions that affect the memory, so evidence that could prove to be valuable may soon fade away if not acted upon promptly.
If you suspect your loved one is being neglectedor abused in a nursing home, contact a New York elder abuse attorney at once. Your loved one has rights, and unsatisfactory treatment in a nursing home or elder care facility is unacceptable.
