Nursing Home Abuse Law Overview - Know Your Rights
If you have loved ones in a nursing home, and you are wondering if they are being abused, there are many laws that protect these individuals. It may not be readily apparent, something that is usually the result of careful documentation, or something that can be abrupt like bruising. When you are in this situation, it's time to get into contact with the lawyer that can help you with this, making sure that they are going to protect the rights of your loved one. Let's provide you with a basic overview of nursing home abuse law and what you can do if you believe that your family member is being abused.
Overview Of Nursing Home Abuse Law
We should start with one of the most disturbing statistics involving nursing home abuse which has nothing to do with the abuse that is committed. For example, most cases that could be opened, and resolutions that could be reached, never come to pass because no one reports what has happened. They may failed to report because they believe that the abusers will increase the abuse to the loved one in the home. They may also not know who to contact in order to report these incidents, or even how to document what is going on. Many elderly people will not be aware of what is happening to them, so a personal testimony may not be available. That's why all family members need to keep an open eye out for small things that have occurred, and definitely report large incidents such as falls, obvious bruising, or broken bones that may result from abuse that they are sustaining at this location.
Different Types Of Abuse
There are many legal options to consider in regard to elder abuse. You just have to know how you can protect them. You need to speak with the nursing home initially, reporting what you have found, and open that they can resolve the issue. There are other forms of abuse that can occur such as not having a cleanly room, not having access to proper meals or social services. If you have found that your elderly relative is not getting enough exercise, or that people are not giving them the proper medications, these are all different forms of abuse that must be reported.
Although there are common themes of elder abuse across nations, there are also unique manifestations based upon history, culture, economic strength, and societal perceptions of older people within nations themselves. The fundamental common denominator is the use of power and control by one individual to affect the well-being and status of another, older, individual.
There are several types of abuse of older people that are generally recognized as being elder abuse, including:[5][6]
Physical: e.g. hitting, punching, slapping, burning, pushing, kicking, restraining, false imprisonment/confinement, or giving excessive or improper medication
Psychological/Emotional: e.g. humiliating a person. A common theme is a perpetrator who identifies something that matters to an older person and then uses it to coerce an older person into a particular action. It may take verbal forms such as name-calling, ridiculing, constantly criticizing, accusations, blaming, or non verbal forms such as ignoring, silence or shunning.
Financial abuse: also known as financial exploitation. e.g. illegal or unauthorized use of a person’s property, money, pension book or other valuables (including changing the person's will to name the abuser as heir). It may be obtained by deception, coercion, misrepresentation, undue influence, or theft. This includes fraudulently obtaining or use of a power of attorney. Other forms include deprivation of money or other property, or by eviction from own home Scam by strangers: e.g. worthless "sweepstakes" that elderly persons must pay in order to collect winnings, fraudulent investment schemes, predatory lending, and lottery scams.
Sexual: e.g. forcing a person to take part in any sexual activity without his or her consent, including forcing them to participate in conversations of a sexual nature against their will; may also include situations where person is no longer able to give consent (dementia)
Neglect: e.g. depriving a person of food, heat, clothing or comfort or essential medication and depriving a person of needed services to force certain kinds of actions, financial and otherwise. The deprivation may be intentional (active neglect) or happen out of lack of knowledge or resources (passive neglect).
Hybrid financial exploitation (HFE): e.g. financial exploitation that co-occurs with physical abuse and/or neglect. HFE victims are more likely to be co-habiting with abusive individual, to have fair/poor health, to fear the abusive individual, to perceive abusive individual as caretaker, and to have a longer duration abuse.[8]
--source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_abuse
Overview Of Nursing Home Abuse Law
We should start with one of the most disturbing statistics involving nursing home abuse which has nothing to do with the abuse that is committed. For example, most cases that could be opened, and resolutions that could be reached, never come to pass because no one reports what has happened. They may failed to report because they believe that the abusers will increase the abuse to the loved one in the home. They may also not know who to contact in order to report these incidents, or even how to document what is going on. Many elderly people will not be aware of what is happening to them, so a personal testimony may not be available. That's why all family members need to keep an open eye out for small things that have occurred, and definitely report large incidents such as falls, obvious bruising, or broken bones that may result from abuse that they are sustaining at this location.
Different Types Of Abuse
There are many legal options to consider in regard to elder abuse. You just have to know how you can protect them. You need to speak with the nursing home initially, reporting what you have found, and open that they can resolve the issue. There are other forms of abuse that can occur such as not having a cleanly room, not having access to proper meals or social services. If you have found that your elderly relative is not getting enough exercise, or that people are not giving them the proper medications, these are all different forms of abuse that must be reported.
Although there are common themes of elder abuse across nations, there are also unique manifestations based upon history, culture, economic strength, and societal perceptions of older people within nations themselves. The fundamental common denominator is the use of power and control by one individual to affect the well-being and status of another, older, individual.
There are several types of abuse of older people that are generally recognized as being elder abuse, including:[5][6]
Physical: e.g. hitting, punching, slapping, burning, pushing, kicking, restraining, false imprisonment/confinement, or giving excessive or improper medication
Psychological/Emotional: e.g. humiliating a person. A common theme is a perpetrator who identifies something that matters to an older person and then uses it to coerce an older person into a particular action. It may take verbal forms such as name-calling, ridiculing, constantly criticizing, accusations, blaming, or non verbal forms such as ignoring, silence or shunning.
Financial abuse: also known as financial exploitation. e.g. illegal or unauthorized use of a person’s property, money, pension book or other valuables (including changing the person's will to name the abuser as heir). It may be obtained by deception, coercion, misrepresentation, undue influence, or theft. This includes fraudulently obtaining or use of a power of attorney. Other forms include deprivation of money or other property, or by eviction from own home Scam by strangers: e.g. worthless "sweepstakes" that elderly persons must pay in order to collect winnings, fraudulent investment schemes, predatory lending, and lottery scams.
Sexual: e.g. forcing a person to take part in any sexual activity without his or her consent, including forcing them to participate in conversations of a sexual nature against their will; may also include situations where person is no longer able to give consent (dementia)
Neglect: e.g. depriving a person of food, heat, clothing or comfort or essential medication and depriving a person of needed services to force certain kinds of actions, financial and otherwise. The deprivation may be intentional (active neglect) or happen out of lack of knowledge or resources (passive neglect).
Hybrid financial exploitation (HFE): e.g. financial exploitation that co-occurs with physical abuse and/or neglect. HFE victims are more likely to be co-habiting with abusive individual, to have fair/poor health, to fear the abusive individual, to perceive abusive individual as caretaker, and to have a longer duration abuse.[8]
--source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_abuse
Conduct Of Employees
Finally, the abuse that is placed upon the family member by an employee is probably the most common problem of all. They could be very rough with them, degrading and the things that they say, and may actually purposefully neglect to give them their medications. Once this has been determined, and you have a good lawyer on your side, not only will they be removed from the facility, but compensation is usually provided.
Legal Options For Victims
There are always legal options available for people that are trying to prosecute individuals that have abused elderly family members at a care home that they are staying at. All you have to do is contact an attorney that specializes it elder abuse, meet with them to tell them what you believe is going on, and they will do the rest. The largest problem that anyone faces is actually doing this work, taking that first step to get everything reported and resolved. These simple strategies should motivate you to at least pay more attention to your elderly family member that is in a home where proper care is not being given.
Finally, the abuse that is placed upon the family member by an employee is probably the most common problem of all. They could be very rough with them, degrading and the things that they say, and may actually purposefully neglect to give them their medications. Once this has been determined, and you have a good lawyer on your side, not only will they be removed from the facility, but compensation is usually provided.
Legal Options For Victims
There are always legal options available for people that are trying to prosecute individuals that have abused elderly family members at a care home that they are staying at. All you have to do is contact an attorney that specializes it elder abuse, meet with them to tell them what you believe is going on, and they will do the rest. The largest problem that anyone faces is actually doing this work, taking that first step to get everything reported and resolved. These simple strategies should motivate you to at least pay more attention to your elderly family member that is in a home where proper care is not being given.