March 1, 2022
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
According to the National Council on Aging, each year, as many as 5,000,000 million older Americans suffer at least one form of elder abuse. Many—if not most—of these incidents of abuse take place in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Tragically, the Covid-19 pandemic led to a staffing shortage at these already overburdened facilities, which is likely to lead to even more abuse and neglect of residents for some time to come. Statistically speaking, if you have concerns that a loved one who resides in one of these facilities is suffering from one or more kinds of abuse, the chances are solid that you are correct.
Abuse and Neglect – The Basics
Nursing home abuse manifests primarily in five different ways: physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, exploitation, and emotional abuse. Any given resident may be affected by one or more of these forms of abuse. Frustratingly, it can be difficult to spot the signs of abuse and neglect, as many signs of mistreatment could reasonably be attributed to other causes. This is one of the many reasons why it is important for the loved ones of vulnerable residents to speak with an attorney about their concerns, even if their concerns cannot yet be verified. As an experienced nursing home abuse lawyer – including those who practice at Davis & Brusca, LLC – can confirm, attorneys skilled in this area of law have a solid understanding of how to uncover the truth of a resident’s situation without raising alarm bells unnecessarily and/or placing the resident in question at greater risk of danger than ever.
Spotting Abuse and Neglect in Nursing Home Residents
It is worth repeating that many of the signs that point to abuse and neglect may be reasonably attributed to other causes. For example, your loved one’s sudden weight loss may be the result of an ulcer, not mistreatment. With that said, it is important to know what the common signs of neglect and abuse are so that you know when to be concerned, when to seek clarity as to their causes, and when it may be in your loved one’s best interests for you to speak confidentially with an attorney about your suspicions.
Common signs of abuse and neglect include (but are not limited to): bruising and other signs of physical trauma, dehydration, malnutrition, a significant change in behaviors and/or socialization, a lack of hygiene, isolation, rashes, repeated infection of reproductive tissue, and odd activity on social media, email, and/or financial accounts.
