Nursing Home Abuse Causes and Risk Factors
Sadly nursing home abuse is a prevalent problem and many people are unaware that is even happening till it is too late. There are many causes as to why this happens but that doesn’t mean it is ever an acceptable outcome. When abuse or neglect happens it can result in serious trauma, medical emergencies, and even death.
If you have a loved one in a nursing home there are some things that you should look out for. Below we have the most common causes and the risk factors for you to look at. With as many as 1 in 3 older people in nursing homes suffering from some kind of abuse, it never hurts to know how to spot abuse before it happens.
Causes of Nursing Home Abuse
There are many reasons why the elderly are abused in nursing homes and care facilities. The most common reason is the caregivers are simply unfit to help older people.
When the employees at the nursing home aren’t trained properly they can become easily frustrated and stressed. It can be a difficult job and a physically demanding one. While many employees have healthy ways of coping there are some who take out their stress on the elderly.
Another issue is that many nursing homes are in this chronic staff shortage. Without adequate staffing, the residents in the nursing home can’t get the care they need. The staff also can’t care for everyone in the proper way and are often running on empty. Over time this can lead to chronic neglect, even if it wasn’t intentional neglect.
No matter the cause of nursing home abuse, it is always dangerous and always unacceptable.
Risk Factors for Nursing Home Abuse
When you place a loved one into a nursing home you expect them to get the best care possible. In many cases, this does happen, but there are risk factors that greatly increase the chance of elder abuse. Here are some of the potential risk factors:
- Being female: Older women accounted for 67% of elder sexual abuse cases.
- Being a veteran: Many veterans require more medical care than civilians and often suffer from illnesses like PTSD which put them at greater risk to be abused.
- Having a mental illness: About 50% of elders with mental impairments suffer from abuse in a nursing home.
- Identifying as LGBTQ+: The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) found that about 8% of LGBTQ+ elders were physically abused and nearly 9% were financially exploited or blackmailed.
No matter the reason for elder abuse it is never okay. If you have a loved one who has been abused in a nursing home contact a nursing home abuse lawyer, like our friends at Disparti Law Group, to help you get answers about what you can do for your loved one.