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Fighting Back Against Nursing Home Abuse

On Behalf of | Feb 21, 2018 | Articles

When we turn to nursing homes in California as a solution for helping us to look after our loved ones when they need more care and attention, we expect certain things.

For instance, you might expect a nursing home to give your loved one their medication on time, or ensure that they have clean facilities to use every day. What we don’t expect, is that the people we care about most might be subject to abuse.

Unfortunately, nursing home abuse is a significant and growing problem in California, and throughout the United States.

About 30% of all nursing homes see problems with abuse, including issues that lead to bedsores, poor hygiene, dehydration, and limited medical services. While it can be difficult to pinpoint and address instances of abuse, it’s up to loved ones to start the fight against organizations that mistreat their family members.

How to Report Abuse in a Nursing Home

Nursing home abuse can come in a wide variety of different forms. For instance, there’s psychological abuse, financial, physical, and even sexual abuse. If you notice or suspect any problems regarding the mistreatment of your loved one, then it’s important to report your concerns as quickly as possible to the relevant authorities. Importantly, you can also report issues that seem to be surrounding people who aren’t related to you.

The hidden nature of nursing home abuse can mean that problems are difficult to prove. Though there are physical and behavioral indicators of abuse, these are often sensitive to time, meaning that you’ll need to ensure that you visit your loved one as often as possible to check for any signs of neglect.

Remember, reporting the incident will mean speaking to doctors, social workers, and even police to get to the bottom of a problem.

Challenging the Problem of Nursing Home Abuse

After you’ve reported nursing home abuse, it’s worth noting that you may discover a range of issues that still need to be addressed.

Most families will access help from an experienced and judicial attorney to help them move through stressful court procedures and ensure that their loved one is looked after in the future. Remember that you will need to look for a new facility for your family member, and continue to act vigilantly in case the problem re-occurs.

The last thing that any family wants is for a vulnerable elderly individual to be exposed to instances of abuse. However, with some careful attention to detail and the right attitude, you could start to fight back against the problem, and protect the people you care about most. It’s only by recognizing and speaking out against nursing home or elder abuse that changes can start to be made to the problems that we see in our society today.

A Law Firm for Everyone

Remember that anything from a nurse failing to give your loved one his or her medication, to a person deliberately isolating your loved one from other people in the home, could be signs of abuse. Speak to the experts if you need help bringing your case to the courts. Contact Makarem & Associates either through email at [email protected], or phone at 310.312.0299.