Elder abuse is a major issue both at nursing homes and in general. Seniors living on their own and in group settings are more vulnerable to abuse for many reasons. There are estimates that one in every 10 seniors is a victim of elder abuse. However, much of the abuse goes on unreported and undetected. In fact, only an estimated 5 percent of physical abuse victims in nursing homes file a report with authorities.
Detecting and Reporting Leads to Prevention
Knowing about the abuse is the first step to preventing it. Even after learning about the illegal behavior, you must report it for a full investigation. The key to preventing abuse is to make the nursing home and the abuser fully aware that they will get caught.
Many abusers thrive on the combination of having power over the abused while possessing little fear that someone will detect and report the abuse. While you may not lessen their power, you can help ensure that they do not operate without fear of detection.
Thus, preventing abuse begins with encouraging your loved one to say something. If your loved one cannot adequately express what they experience, you need to detect it. Prepare to advocate for your loved one if they cannot advocate for themselves. Make sure that your relative knows that they can always come to you and that you will fight for them.
One of the reasons nursing home abuse is difficult to detect and prevent is that seniors are not always willing or able to report it. They may not even have the cognitive or verbal ability to say something about what they are experiencing. Alternatively, they might not report the abuse because they do not think that anyone will listen to or believe them. In any event, you cannot always rely on the senior to be the first line of defense in preventing abuse. Thus, many of the efforts to prevent senior abuse will need to come from the family.
Listen Closely to Your Loved One
The first thing that families need to do to stop abuse is to listen to their loved ones. If your loved one can articulate what they are experiencing, hear them out no matter how unbelievable their claim seems at first. You have an obligation to your family member to investigate and inquire if they tell you that they suffer abuse. Many situations of mistreatment continue because family members discount what their loved ones are telling them.
If your family member tells you that they are in a situation where they believe someone is exploiting or mistreating them, act quickly. Federal nursing home regulations are very strict about the reporting of abuse.
The Code of Federal Regulations sets out the rules specifically:
“Ensure that all alleged violations involving abuse, neglect, exploitation or mistreatment, including injuries of unknown source and misappropriation of resident property, are reported immediately.”
Even when there has been no serious bodily injury, “immediately” means within 24 hours. If a bodily injury took place, that window shrinks to two hours. The nursing home reports the allegations to the nursing home administrator and to the state where they are licensed.
Nursing Homes and Their Administrators Cannot Bury Reported Allegations
As you can see, the law ensures that even the nursing home administrator cannot bury allegations of abuse. Instead, knowing that the state is fully aware of the issue, they need to make an immediate investigation. The state will not allow anything less than a full investigation.
A failure in following this rule may result in disciplinary action for nursing homes, including a fine. A pattern of violations in this area may even mean that the nursing home cannot accept any new Medicaid patients because they will get suspended or removed from Medicaid.
Nursing homes obviously do not want such a circumstance to occur, so they have every incentive to take reports of abuse seriously. Accordingly, if you want to prevent elder abuse, report any allegations if you are in any doubt. Err on the side of reporting, and do not worry about hurting anyone’s feelings.
Reporting Abuse Can Shine a Spotlight on It
In many cases, reporting the abuse may be enough to stop it because nursing homes do not like to be in the spotlight, especially when state investigators are involved. Even the appearance of something wrong could be enough to spur the nursing home into action. They may end up disciplining or even firing the employee responsible. If the employee broke the law, they would report that person to law enforcement.
However, in many cases, you will not be so fortunate as to hear a direct account from your loved one that could lead you to believe that there is abuse. In that case, preventing abuse requires vigilance on your part. What you do to help prevent abuse depends on the kind of abuse.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse
For your general information, here are the types of nursing home abuse for which you need to look out:
For all of these types of abuse, preventing them means that you are on guard at all times. While it is difficult to be in a posture of suspicion and always questioning things, that is the only way that you will know that abuse is happening when your loved one cannot tell you.
Detecting and Preventing Physical and Financial Abuse
For physical abuse, preventing it means looking out for the telltale signs of it.
Specifically, you may notice:
- Unexplained bruises or fracture
- Your loved one’s fear when a certain staff member is around
- Changes in their eating and sleeping patterns
- Withdrawal from socializing and group activities
Preventing financial abuse means that you are questioning anything that does not seem right. It also means that you regularly review your loved one’s finances and bank account. You should scrutinize every bill that they receive to ensure nothing unusual is going on with their finance. Also, take the time to review account statements to look out for any suspicious withdrawals. If there is anything out of the ordinary, ask your loved one about the transaction. If they cannot explain it, more likely than not, there is a problem.
Preventing Sexual Abuse
Preventing sexual abuse is a little more difficult. Here, it would be best if you were extra vigilant to notice any signs that something is wrong. The first step is impressing upon your loved one that they should tell you about anything that seems improper or wrong. While communicating with you is not always easy when your loved one has dementia, you would at least plant a seed in their mind that they can tell you about anything.
Many elderly victims of sexual abuse do not want to report what happened out of guilt or shame. Your loved one is older and may come from a time when people simply did not talk about abuse.
Next, preventing sexual abuse is also about looking for physical signs of sexual exploitation and misconduct, such as:
- Your loved one becomes unusually withdrawn or angry.
- They want to leave the facility immediately.
- You notice bruising around their genitals or rectum when they are dressing. Most likely, you do not always see your family member undressing (perhaps not at all), so this may not be easy to spot.
Know that a full investigation should take place when you report an abuse allegation, no matter what. Unfortunately, many people hesitate to go directly to initiating a process that would result in a report made to the state. They may simply not want to make waves.
Prevent Neglect by Being Vocal
Many families also do not know that nursing home neglect is reportable abuse. The most important steps to prevent neglect are being very discerning and vocal about the level of care given to your loved one. If you suspect that the nursing home is not keeping up with their hygiene or properly looking after your loved one, the key is to hold the nursing home accountable by continuously bringing up everything it does wrong.
If you are not getting the response that you need from the nursing home, do not hesitate to contact the state. That may prompt an investigation that could bring neglect and abuse to light and keep it from happening in the future.
If that is the case, it is still critical to ask questions at the nursing home. Even a well-timed question or two will alert the facility that you suspect that there may be a problem. A normal nursing home that cares about risk management may take action when it knows you hear about abuse or neglect. Generally, a more formal report is better, but you can still do something if you hesitate.
The Nursing Home’s Ombudsman Can Help in Abuse Prevention
An intermediate step that you can take to discuss your concerns about abuse is to take advantage of the nursing home’s ombudsman. Many people are not familiar with the concept of an ombudsman. They are an independent and impartial person whose job it is to advocate for resident’s rights. In some cases, they are the eyes and ears for determining whether the facility provides adequate care.
The ombudsman is often the first step for families who have an issue with something at the nursing home. They will listen to the families and advocate for them against the nursing home. Often, families will talk to the ombudsman before they file a full-fledged complaint as a way of relaying and resolving their concerns at a lower level.
If you suspect abuse but are not quite sure, the ombudsman may be a place to start. The ombudsman does not work for the nursing home, so you can trust that they will handle your complaint. An ombudsman is also a good approach if you do not feel fully comfortable with a formal complaint. The ombudsman is there to advocate for your loved one’s rights, and the nursing home may take them more seriously than they would families.
Nursing Homes Must Also Prevent Abuse
In the end, while families need to be vigilant, the obligation for preventing elder abuse falls on the nursing homes. Their procedures and supervision must be strong enough to either keep abuse from happening or catch it if it does.
For nursing homes, a robust abuse prevention program would include:
- Strictly following federal rules about background checks on people whom they hire
- Closely scrutinize the candidate’s manner and bearing when deciding whether to hire them
- Hiring enough staff so that the employees on hand are not overly stressed and take their frustrations out on vulnerable residents
- Overseeing how their staff interact with residents and removing those who appear to be rough or cruel, and better training those who do not appear to be fully sensitive to the needs of the residents
- Performing full and effective administrative oversight of the nursing home
Following these measures can help ensure a professional and caring staff that is free from possible abusers. If nursing homes even spot abusive tendencies in a staff member, they must have a zero-tolerance policy and immediately fire that employee. Further, they must promptly report anyone known to have shown abusive and criminal behavior to the authorities.
You and your loved one do not have to simply accept elder abuse. Our attorneys can help you file a lawsuit for financial compensation based on the harm that your relative has suffered. Nursing home abuse is against the law, and you have the legal right to damages. However, it requires that you are vigilant and willing to take on the nursing home. That is where our law firm can help you.
