Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
February 13, 2017 |
It’s a scary thought to think about – especially if you already have a loved one who is living in a nursing home as you read this. The truth of the matter is that almost all nursing homes have internal staffing problems or at some point or another have abused the elderly in some fashion or another.
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Evanston elder abuse attorney Robert Rooth has been focused elder abuse for decades. If you have a loved one in a nursing home or retirement facility and have questions or concerns, you may want to ask them about what they’ve seen.
We have the numbers – and it really is staggering. About 1 in 10 older adults in Illinois will experience some form of abuse, neglect, or exploitation each year. This type of abuse is an unspoken tragedy within our very culture, but there are outlets and ways to make sure elder abuse doesn’t happen to your parents and loved ones, even when they are very vulnerable and need full-time assistance.
To be fair, almost all nursing and retirement facilities are very cooperative with their elder residents. However, no one is perfect, and problems continue to arise in sometimes heated situations. A lot of times it is hard to know the living situation of your loved ones in a nursing home from a more personal, everyday perspective.
Know the Staff and Their Friends
Getting to know the staff at your loved one’s nursing/retirement facility is definitely your very best bet at starting to get an understanding of who they are living with, along with the other residents at the location, too.
The biggest thing to try to understand about your loved one is how they are socializing in their everyday lives. There can be problems if your loved one isn’t socializing with other residents or staff members. Studies have shown that preventing social isolation, in general, can prevent elder abuse and neglect or mistreatment.
Elderly people who are more active in their communities have a much less likely chance than non-active members of the community do. Of course in many instances, older people can’t be too active, and that is, of course, a catalyst of facilities being understaffed and mistreatment occurring. In fact, according to WHO, rates of abuse of older people are high in institutions such as nursing homes and long-term care facilities, with 2 in 3 staff reporting that they have committed abuse in the past year.
But it’s important to know that if you find yourself in need of legal support for a loved one who reports that they have been abused in some way, Robert Rooth is committed to helping victims. While it may seem uncommon, this type of abuse happens more often than most people would like to admit.
Lawsuits Abound
Just listen to this statistic: This is a 36 billion dollar legal dispute per year. That’s how you know there is a problem – and it’s sadly true. Elder abuse has most certainly become an epidemic that is widely not reported.
The saddest part is that elderly people with mental impairments of some kind are more likely to suffer from elder abuse, because the people who take care of them know that they are less likely to understand what is going on; it’s heartbreaking. Older adults living with dementia or Alzheimer’s deserve the highest level of care and respect. Unfortunately, they are sometimes mistreated or neglected — and this is never acceptable. Every senior should be treated with dignity and compassion
We get it. You may never know exactly what’s going on with your loved one, and trust is the biggest thing to consider. So choose wisely who takes care of your loved ones.
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