Understanding Elderly Abuse

Elderly abuse is an issue most of us just don't think about.

When we hand over our loved ones to a hospital or nursing home, we believe the staff would take the utmost care, especially if the elderly family member is sick or ailing. But the uncomfortable truth is that maltreatment of elders seems to be increasing. Whether it's a caregiver at home or a nursing facility, abuse of elders seems to be on the rise.

So why is elderly abuse happening in the first place? There are a number of very disturbing facts that have recently come to light: One, a number of states don't ask for a background check when a caregiver or nursing home staff is hired. This means that someone with a criminal background can easily find employment. Between 2006 and 2007, researchers found that from nearly 200,000 workers, over 5,000 of them shouldn't have been hired in the first place.

What makes the saga of elderly abuse even more disheartening is that in many cases, family members were responsible for the abuse. Studies show that in 47 percent of cases, the culprits were the adult children of the victim. Another very stunning piece of information reveals nearly 84 percent of elder abuse cases are hidden. This can be due to two reasons -- the victim is either too sick or too much of an invalid to react, much less complain and -- the victim might be living in fear of his life.

In many cases, the elderly are dependent on their abusers, which makes the situation all the more poignant.

Nursing Home Lawsuits: Is Elder Abuse Worse?

A distressing recent trend that many people are noticing is the rise of Nursing home lawsuits all across the country, even around the world. There are a number of perturbing elements to this issue: The fact that quite a bit of elder abuse is hidden. It means that the victim is either unwilling or unable to tell anyone what's happening. Secondly, many nursing homes are severely understaffed. People with criminal backgrounds are often given employment since there are no efficient employee background checks.

Medicare has recently started a star system in an effort to reduce the number of nursing home lawsuits. This system basically works in the same way as a hotel or restaurant is given stars for service. Five-star ratings are given to nursing homes that perform excellently on the basis of recent inspections. A one-star rating is given to those that are bogged down with multiple problems.

But a number of people think that the rating system isn't enough. This system certainly does have the advantage of helping people out in comparing nursing homes quickly. But the American Health Care Association says that the criteria used just aren't enough. For one thing, the inspection process itself is flawed. Apart from that, input from family and residents is also necessary. It's also important to include past nursing home lawsuits in the institutions' profiles. While the star system might seem like a positive step in the right direction, there is still a lot that needs to be done in terms of curbing elder abuse.

Current Events: Deplorable State of Nursing Homes

Nursing homes are supposed to be places that provide constant care to people who are deficient when it comes to performing their daily routines.

However, the state of nursing homes is deplorable.

• A study of Special Investigations Division of the House Government Reforms Committee has revealed thousands of cases of nursing home abuse. This abuse includes physical, mental, and sexual exploitation.

• To make the matters worse, the conditions of nursing homes have deteriorated ever since large private firms have entered the nursing home arena. Records collected by Medicare and Medicaid reveal a glaring reduction in the number of registered nurses. Budgets for nursing supplies, resident activities, and other services have reduced.

Nothing seems to be improving despite the regulators’ repeated warnings of inadequate staff levels. This is an ugly state of affairs where investors and operators are earning millions of dollars at the expense of hapless nursing home residents.

Over a period of three years, 15 residents at Habana Health Care Center in Tampa, Fla., died due to what the families contend as negligent care. Vivian Hewitt sued Habana when her mother died after a large bed sore became infected by feces.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Hewitt found that Habana’s owners and managers had spread their control among 15 companies and five layers of firms. Mrs. Hewitt’s lawyers were unable to establish who exactly could be held responsible for her mother’s death.

As our population ages in unprecedented numbers how will nursing homes fare in the future?

Families of nursing home residents must be adequately prepared to deal with the situation today which may hold promise for the residents of tomorrow.

If your parent or grandparent resides in a nursing home and has suffered grievous injury or wrongful death in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, don’t hesitate to contact a law firm to determine if there is evidence for a nursing home settlement.

Turning the other cheek is not an option.

Nursing Home Oversights

Oversights in nursing home care can result in negligence suits.

The operative word in nursing home is the word nursing. There is good reason for this. When an elderly person is placed in the care of a nursing home it’s because the person is unable to take care of him or herself. Often, the situation is compounded by medical issues that require constant attention. Such careful attention is what the nursing home is being contracted to provide. Again, the primary focus of a nursing home is to look after residents in their care 100% of the time in order to safeguard the health and welfare of the elderly resident.

There will be those instances where the management of the nursing home does not effectively perform their duties. The care of those elderly patients residing in the nursing home may not be consistent. When it comes to issues of properly providing the patients with medication this can prove disastrous when inconsistent care is provided. So, any nursing home that does not deliver on its promised care is negligent and committing nursing home abuse which may be the basis for a civil action.

Do you feel apprehensive about filing a nursing home lawsuit? Challenging a neglectful entity in light of nursing home abuse is not an act of malice. If actions are taken against the neglectful nursing home then other nursing homes will be sure to fall in line. One of the most important points regarding liability cases is -- punitive judgments will usually have a ripple effect through an industry which often leads to the correcting of improper or negligent behavior.