It is an unwavering reality that our society has social problems presently being addressed by governments as much as possible for them to find a resolution, once and for all. However, there will always be certain issues that cannot be resolved at once. There are also issues that are usually overlooked. One of the problems in our society that is frequently unnoticed or disregarded, thus remain quite unresolved, is the negligence or neglect of elderly and disabled persons in nursing homes.
Nursing home neglect can take place all over different countries, states, cities and towns. This problem varies only by severity and many people tend not to notice them even after multiple visits conducted in a particular nursing home.
Various reasons revolve around this kind of disregard.
- Some older or elderly persons who already needed to live in accommodations that ensure constant care and assistance as a nursing home may also lost the capacity to communicate properly or clearly. As such, when something was done against them that may be in the form of negligence or abuse, they may fail to explain comprehensibly what has happened to them.
- Some may also feel unable to explain properly the instances of neglect or abuse directed towards them because of being threatened.
- Some may have been told or rather, bullied specifically not to divulge about the shabby treatment to them, to either their family or lawyers and advocates. Fearing that they may become involved in more trouble that they could handle, they end up shutting up about it.
Even if our elderly or disabled failed to tell us the whole truth about their situation in the nursing home, there are signs we could look for to lead us in detecting neglect and abuse. Like most problems, there are indications we could decipher about some things going on which should not have been so.
It is true that attorneys and advocates can investigate and uncover the truth more effectively. However, you could start early on in presupposing the negligence or abuse your loved ones in nursing homes are suffering from.
If you already have suspicions, get a more concrete picture by catching signs indicative of abuse and neglect. Ultimately, if you decide to file a case against the nursing home that is supposed to be taking care of your elderly then you can have concrete evidences to present before the court or jury.
Physical neglect – there are many ways to signify this type of neglect. You might observe numerous little signs that cover this from unkempt appearance to bedsores that are often due to the neglect of care provider in helping the bedridden elderly turn over or move in his bed as often as possible and necessary. This boils down to failure of the care provider in making sure that the elderly is in reasonable comfort.
Medical neglect – One sign of this would be cuts, bruises or wounds incurred by the resident that were not treated properly or were never treated at all in order to avoid infections. It could also be the inability of a nursing institution to provide the medical treatment needed, like injections or other forms of medications.
As an example, persons with diabetes might need regular monitoring of their insulin level and regular administration or assistance on their insulin shots. Neglect of the care provider in keeping up with this kind of rigorous assistance and monitoring may turn into fatal results.
Remember that if you observe some telltale indications, it is necessary to monitor closely and investigate thoroughly. This will give you a more or less complete picture of how the nursing home teats your elderly loved one.
Our Los Angeles Accident Attorneys have been involved in defending personal injury cases due to negligence.
