Caring for Loved Ones: Top Signs of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect from Riley Gregory's blog

When your parents or loved ones age out of caring for themselves, you choose assisted living facilities for them. Typically, you are able to trust the nurses and staff in their care, and before hiring them, have done your due diligence to ensure that you can do so. However, not every caregiver is as they appear, and some caregivers in nursing homes and even in-home care are going to take advantage - or downright abuse - the situation at hand.

Understand the signs and symptoms of nursing home and hospice care in Cleburne neglect and abuse so that you can immediately help your elderly loved ones when they need your help. Elder abuse is defined as physical, emotional, or sexual harm inflicted upon an older adult, as financial exploitation, or neglect of their welfare by those who are directly responsible for their care. Physical abuse is non-accidental use of pain to result in injury or cause pain, and emotional abuse may include ignoring an elder, isolating them from friends or activities, yelling or threats, humiliation, and ridicule.

If you notice your loved one isn’t being taken care of properly, isn’t eating or taking their medications, or going to therapies, you may be looking at signs of nursing home neglect. Primarily elder neglect means the caregiver has failed to fulfill an obligation, and when it is intentional, it becomes abuse. There may be unexplained weight loss, unsuitable clothing for the weather, inadequate living conditions, being left unbathed, untreated physical conditions, or desertion at a public place. Look for out-of-character behavior from the elder as well as threatening, belittling, or controlling caregiver behavior. One top sign is behavior from the elder that mimics dementia, such as rocking, sucking, or mumbling to themselves.

Financial exploitation is another type of elder abuse that isn’t talked about. Caregivers financially abusing seniors may steal checks or make significant withdrawals from their accounts. These financial changes may also reflect suspicious changes in wills, powers of attorney, wills, and other titles, and other activity that children or siblings may feel the account holder has not made. Unfortunately, elders are also prime targets for scams from individuals that are not caregivers at all.

If you suspect that your elderly loved one may be a victim of elder abuse, report it immediately. Even if it is not abuse or neglect, it is simply not worth going unnoticed. Hundreds of thousands of cases of elder abuse happen every year, and every single one matters.