Various Elder Care Facilities and Abuse Potential
Healthcare is often faced with problems that require a diverse set of possible solutions in order to best address them. This provides options for different specific needs that must be addressed by whichever form of healthcare is best for whatever specific health issue a patient faces. Care for the elderly is no different as can possibly be provided by a number of different types of facilities that offer unique specialized care and services.
When someone thinks of care for the elderly, the facility that first comes to mind is the traditional nursing home. Despite their missive to assist their elderly resident’s as they traverse one of the more vulnerable segments of their lives, nursing homes can at times be the site of extremely damaging abuse.
Any Elder Care Facility can be a Setting for Abuse
This nursing home abuse can come in many forms and can be done by a variety of different individuals within a nursing home but the end result is always substantial harm to a nursing home resident. Nursing homes are not the only kind of elder care facility that people turn to. Many other kinds of facilities are utilized to care for the elderly and can also be settings in which residents and patients suffer abuse. The types of elder care facilities that are available can be divided into four categories.
Independent Living Facility
Some seniors may still have a large degree of autonomy and capability. They may not require all that much assistance and will choose to live in communities of other people in their age group. These communities offer small townhomes or apartments that seniors can live in independently without assistance one would usually have in a nursing home. So they get the sense of community a nursing home may offer without the dependence on caregivers.
Out of all the different kinds of senior living facilities, independent living facilities have by far the least cases of abuse on account of how there is minimal to no reliance on any kind of caregiving. The elderly living in these facilities are still vulnerable and it is possible that they can be taken advantage of by the staff of one of these facilities in cases of financial abuse.
Assisted Living Facility
When seniors reach a point of age where they are unable to perform certain tasks or the performance of certain tasks can put them at great risk, then they will often be placed in assisted living facilities. These facilities provide apartment-style housing, senior community organizing, and private duty support services to the elderly in need of some assistance when it comes to everyday tasks. The elderly that live in these facilities can often be some of the most targetted when it comes to all kinds of abuse be it physical, financial, etc. They
Skilled Nursing Facility
A facility that is considered a skilled nursing facility goes beyond the unskilled assistance offered in many assisted living facilities and offer accredited nursing and treatment from certified medical professionals. Many elderly develop all kinds of debilitating conditions as they grow older and are in need of such skilled medical care round the clock.
Those that require professional medical care can suffer significant damage should that care be neglectful in any way. Medical conditions can suffer complications, medications can go unadministered or be administered to the wrong patient, and all manner of mistakes can be made to endanger the lives of patients in the care of skilled nursing facilities.
Continuous Care Retirement Community
In order to give the full spectrum of care for seniors, there are continuous care facilities that provide independent, assisted, and skilled nursing living facilities all in one campus. Elders can go from independent living to assisted living or even requiring skilled nursing facilities in the course of less than a year in certain circumstances.
In-Home Elder Care
The elderly in need of care may not elect to utilize a facility like a nursing home and decide to use another avenue of care such as in-home assistance. This assistance can range from unskilled aid with simple tasks such as bathing and household duties to certified nursing. Just because the assistance is at home doesn’t mean that abuse is not any less likely to occur.
Types of Elder Abuse
Whether it’s in an assisted living facility or a skilled nursing facility, abuse is not only especially damaging to particularly susceptible elders but the abuse that can potentially occur can take on a multitude of forms. The main forms of elder abuse include.
Physical Elder Abuse
The most common image that comes to someone’s mind when they think of abuse is of someone being struck by another person. The elderly are at risk for this kind of physical abuse. Sometimes nursing home staff may have frustrations they take out on the vulnerable elderly or they may use the abuse as a form of intimidation that works to compliment another form of abuse. Regardless of the motivation. Physical abuse against the elderly is especially dangerous since their bodies can be so frail. If the simple act of falling has serious health ramifications then image the damage intentional striking can do.
Emotional Elder Abuse
A less subtle form of elder abuse but still all too damaging is emotional elder abuse. Those that live in elder care facilities can often suffer from depression, anxiety, and other mental issues that can be exasperated by emotional abuse that comes in the form of verbal berating, intentional isolation, and general negative interaction with a resident. The effects of emotional elder abuse on a resident’s mental health can also manifest physically and cause harm.
Financial Elder Abuse
Many elders in the care of specialized facilities will have their finances taken advantage of. Those that are especially sick or may have limited mobility will have trouble accessing their finances which can lead to staff members financially abusing them by stealing financial information they can use to access a resident’s money or to steal their identity.
Sexual Elder Abuse
The elderly can be targetted by sexual offenders that aim to sexually abuse them because they are vulnerable. Elder sexual abuse can occur to men and women regardless of their state of health, age, or sexual orientation.
Seek an Experienced Elder Abuse Attorney
If you or a loved one have suffered an injury due to the neglect of an assisted living facility, nursing home, or other similar facilities, then do not hesitate to contact Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA about a free consultation on your possible claim. Our skilled lawyers will sit down with you to lay out your options for legal action and how they can use their expertise to secure you the settlement that you deserve.
For a free consultation on your claim you can contact us online or call (727) 451-6900
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA
800 North Belcher Road
Clearwater, FL 33765
727-451-6900
