When you’re looking for a good nursing home for your elderly parents, you’re going to want to make sure it’s a place that will take good care of them and not neglect or abuse them. There’s little sadder than your parent being abused and not being cogent enough to tell you about it. As such, you need to know the warning signs that will send you scrambling to talk to a nursing home abuse lawyer.
Signs of Physical Abuse
If the patient in question has unexplained bruises, cuts, scratches or broken bones, then it’s possible they’re being physically abused. If caregivers won’t allow you to be alone with the elderly patients, this is a major signal that their unexplained injuries could be signifiers of abuse. Likewise, signs of restraints, such as rope marks on the person’s wrists, could be an indicator of this type of abuse.
Even things that seem minor, like broken eyeglasses, light sprains and the like, could be indicators that the patient is being abused. This goes double for patients that have a hard time communicating effectively, as some abusive caregivers could think they’ll be unable to tell anyone they need help.
Signs of Caregiver Neglect
Some abusive caregivers aren’t engaging in straightforward physical abuse, but instead will neglect their patients. This is no better than any other form of abuse, but it is more common. Signs of such neglect could manifest in a number of ways. For instance, if patients are often left unattended for hours, or even left at locales away from the nursing home, the caregivers could simply be neglecting them altogether.
If patients are dirty and often unwashed, or if the conditions in the nursing home are dirty, with faulty electricity and no heat or A/C, then the nursing home could be entirely neglectful. The presence of bedsores, unwashed sheets, dehydration, or unexplained weight loss could all be signs of similar neglect.
Signs of Financial Exploitation
An often unnoticed form of exploitation of the elderly is financial exploitation. This is a hard form of abuse to detect, as you might not have access to see your parent’s finances. However, if you notice a sudden, odd change in their finances, such as not having all the care they could for their financial standing, or changes in their power of attorney or will, then it is very likely they are being financially abused.
In all cases, it is important to remain vigilant about your elderly loved ones. As long as you keep a good track of their wellbeing, then you should be able to detect any elder abuse.
Catie Housman
