Social Problems 2601
“Aging Nursing Home Dysfunctions”

Do you have a loved one in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or long-term care center? Do you suspect neglect or abuse happening or even worse a sudden, unexplained death? Do not allow owners of nursing homes to line their pockets with your hard earned money, while their facilities are dangerous and unsanitary for your family members. Abuse is happening everyday all over the world; senior citizens are at a vulnerable stage in life, when they may not be able to defend themselves. Every year, tens of thousands of elderly Americans are abused in their own homes, and even in facilities responsible for their care. If you suspect that an elderly person you know is being harmed physically or emotionally by a neglectful or overwhelmed caregiver or being preyed upon financially. By learning the signs and symptoms of elder abuse and how to act on behalf of an elderly person who is being abused, you’ll not only be helping someone else but strengthening defenses against elder abuse in the future. Many early signs of elderly abuse are commonly over looked due to carelessness, lack of knowledge and many times understaffed facilities. Look out for the signs of abuse and or neglect.
Signs and Symptoms of Abuse and or neglect are as followed;
Visible injuries are, naturally, the type that you will pick up on right away. Examples are broken bones due to extreme falls, cuts, scars, extensive bruising and bed sores (pressure ulcers). Their eyesight deteriorates as they age, but perhaps the glasses have been lost or broken. Then from overly tight restraints to keep them in place, from rough handling to pressure sores and with depression or anxiety setting in to even extreme measures of weight loss and dehydration. If you see signs of these types of injuries, you need to be aware in getting to the bottom of the problem. Neglected, abused, and threatened, nursing home residents may suffer physically and emotionally or even premature death can result from neglectful and outright abusive treatment. The first and foremost to explore this field as a social problem arising is the NASW Standards for Social Work Practice in Palliative and End of Life Care.
Ask the resident what happened to cause the injury but don't stop there. The resident may be reluctant to tell you the truth because he or she is embarrassed or, perhaps because they have been intimidated into not telling the truth. Ask the attending nurse and assistant about the injury, see what the staff supervisor knows, question the attending physician and insist on inspecting the resident's medical chart. Most elderly people in nursing homes are unable to take care of their daily living needs without assistance, which is why their families have placed them in surroundings where that assistance is supposedly at hand. Once your loved one is a resident in a nursing home, how do you make sure that he or she is getting the care that you were promised and that you expect? That is, what do you look for on your visits? Your loved one may be reluctant to talk about these issues, therefore you should keep your eyes and ears open for signs of neglect. Subjective concern, most people are aware of signs of elderly individuals aging and with decreasing mental and physical capacities. This is still a very highly overlooked situation at hand in today’s society with the baby boomer generation coming to a halt, but still having the correct knowledge and information could have a great impact on someone you know as well, especially if it’s a loved one in your family. Objective condition, I personally have experienced a wide vast of these experiences taking immediate care of a loved one, my Grandmother. I’ve seen a range of symptoms starting from minor activities, which a lot of people overlook, that vary rapidly can progress into much more situations that were previously discussed. Watching our grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles grow older has its own set of stresses and disadvantages. As those we love fall victim to the unfortunate circumstances of ageing, we worry about our lives without them, meanwhile learning to provide care for them. We look to medicines, doctors, diets, vitamins—anything we can find—in hopes of keeping them healthy and happy and able to live as independently as they wish to and as we only knew how they lived. When finally the complications get too great, we turn to an assisted living facility, visiting nurses, nursing homes, or other long-term care facilities to continue the thoughtful and conscientious care we are no longer able to provide.
Many of these facilities provide excellent care; however, far too many do not. Often understaffed with underpaid and poorly trained employees, many nursing homes push the bottom line so far that they endanger the lives of their patients. While, always ready when it comes to receiving payment(s) for the care of the elderly, which is undeniable and an understatement to see if the shoes were switched, vice versa how they would feel to see if their loved ones were in the scenario.
Financial exploitation: This involves unauthorized use of an elderly person’s funds or property, either by a caregiver or an outside scam artist. A home caregiver might misuse their personal checks, credit cards, or accounts. Steal cash, income checks, if they have any coming in or with other means acceptable and even household goods. Forge the elder’s signature, engage in identity theft, typical rackets that target elders include; Announcements of a “prize” that the elderly person has won, but must pay money to claim. Phony charities, investment fraud, healthcare fraud and abuse carried out by unethical doctors, nurses, hospital personnel, and other professional care providers. Examples of healthcare fraud and abuse regarding elders include: Not providing healthcare, but charging for it, overcharging or double-billing for medical care or services and getting kickbacks for referrals to other providers and specialists in a specific field. Overmedicating or under medicating recommending fraudulent remedies for illnesses or other medical conditions many physicians prescribe certain drugs, which I know personally not for elderly patients, but for all patients of doctors including myself. They get tremendous awards or “kickbacks” for prescribing certain medications/name brands for ex. threw Bayer, Pfizer and Glasko, Smith & Kline. Also administrators of the hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other care institutions receive large bonuses to keep budgeting costs low.
How do I report suspected elder abuse?
The 500,000 to 1,000,000 reports of elder abuse recorded by authorities every year (the vast majority of which are proven to be true) are only the tip of the iceberg; according to data from different states, for every case of elder abuse reported, the other small percentage are not. Accordingly there’s a great need for people to report suspected abuse. In every state, physical, sexual, and financial abuses targeting elders that violate laws against assault, rape, theft, and other offenses are punishable as crimes. With some variation among states, certain types of emotional elder abuse and elder neglect are subject to criminal prosecution, depending on the perpetrators' conduct and intent and the consequences for the victim.
States differ on who is required to report suspected elder abuse (there’s no federal standard), though the categories expanding. Typically, medical personnel, nursing home workers, peace officers, emergency personnel, public officials, social workers, counselors, and clergy are listed as mandatory reporters, and that responsibility is spreading to financial institutions and other entities that work with seniors. While it’s important for elders to seek refuge from abuse, either by calling a local agency or telling a doctor or trusted friend, many seniors don't report the abuse they face even if they’re able. Many fear retaliation from the abuser, while others believe that if they turn in their abusers, no one else will take care of them. When the caregivers are their children, they may be ashamed that their children are behaving abusively or blame themselves: “If I’d been a better parent when they were younger, this wouldn’t be happening.” Or they just may not want children they love to get into trouble with the law.
Preventing elder abuse and neglect:
We can help reduce the incidence of elder abuse, but it’ll take more effort than we’re making now. Preventing elder abuse means doing three things:
Listening to seniors and their caregivers, intervening when you suspect elder abuse, educating others about how to recognize and report elder abuse, what you can do as a caregiver to prevent elder abuse.
If you’re overwhelmed by the demands of caring for an elder, do the following:
Request help, from friends, relatives, or local respite care agencies, so you can take a break, if only for a couple of hours. Find an adult day care program, stay healthy and get medical care for yourself when necessary. Adopt stress reduction practices; seek counseling for depression, which can lead to elder abuse. Find a support group for caregivers of the elderly. And remember, elder abuse helplines offer help for caregivers as well. You can call a helpline if you think there’s a possibility of elder abuse. What you can do as a concerned friend or family member, Watch for warning signs that might indicate elder abuse. Take a look at the elder’s medications. Does the amount in the container(s)/or script card match with the date of the prescription and the correct dosage amount(s). Watch for possible financial abuse. Ask the elder if you may scan bank accounts and credit card statements for unauthorized transactions. Call and visit as often as you can. Help the elder consider you a trusted confidante. Offer to stay with the elder so the caregiver can have a break — on a regular basis, if you can. How you can protect yourself, as an elder, against elder abuse; Make sure you’re financial and legal affairs are in order. If they aren’t, enlist professional help to get them in order, with the assistance of a trusted friend or relative if necessary.
Keep in touch with family and friends and avoid becoming isolated, which increases your vulnerability to elder abuse. If you are unhappy with the care you’re receiving, whether it’s in your own home or in a care facility, speak up. Tell someone you trust and ask that person to report the abuse, neglect, or substandard care to your state’s elder abuse helpline or long term care ombudsman, or make the call yourself.
Finally, if you aren’t in a position to help an elder personally, you can volunteer or donate money to the cause of educating people about elder abuse, and you can lobby to strengthen state laws and policing so that elder abuse can be investigated and prosecuted more readily. The life you save down the line may be your own.
While many, if not most, nursing homes are caring and conscientious, there are some where that assistance is negligently absent. And further, there are times when conscious or deliberate harm is done to elderly people. It can be physical or emotional harm, or both, but in either case it's personal injury and therefore potentially a legal matter, to us now. With so many advertisements from attorney’s today with a wide range of media to state about the neglect to your loved ones in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, that has tripled over time with the increase of not only the elderly, but as well as this has risen to become what a “social problem” is defined as. The area on aging and other firms or groups now have a potential hazard for nursing homes when it comes to the proper care and placement of individuals under the care and or treatment of.