How to Defend People with Dementia from Nursing Home Abuse
Dementia is a degenerative and progressive neurological disorder that affects the brain’s proper function. This condition can significantly affect the well-being of the individual who has it and their relatives. Caring for them can also be challenging and time-consuming, especially if they have other priorities outside the house.
Therefore, they place their loved ones in nursing homes for care and safety. Unfortunately, where there are reputable establishments, some facilities find joy in mistreating and neglecting the residents. Besides reporting this case to the authorities, you must seek legal assistance from a professional nursing home abuse lawyer.
If you want to defend your loved one with dementia from abusive facilities, this article is your helpful guide to protecting them from nursing home abuse.
What Is Nursing Home Abuse?
Nursing home abuse is any intentional or negligent act a staff member or caregiver commits that causes harm, injury, or distress to a resident. It can take various forms, like verbal, emotional, sexual, financial, and physical abuse and neglect. This mistreatment can have devastating consequences for the elderly and vulnerable residents who rely on these facilities for their care and well-being.
How to Find a Nursing Home for Your Loved One with Dementia
When choosing a facility for your elderly relative with dementia, you can lower the risk of injury or neglect by visiting and trusting your instincts, asking questions, considering the location, and considering security measures.
You should also understand the types of behaviors the facility can handle, prepare for potential moves, and ask how the staff manages the meals and activities to ensure your loved one can have choices and participate as much as possible. Moreover, look for facilities with Special Care Units for dementia or Alzheimer’s patients.
Why Are Nursing Home Residents with Dementia Prone to Abuse?
Dementia patients residing in nursing homes may experience abuse because of their forgetfulness, confusion, and trouble with communication. Their degenerative and progressive neurological condition may cause them to wander off the facility and get lost. Other staff members caring for them may also take advantage of their vulnerability and assume that their superiors won’t catch them red-handed.
Moreover, their condition may frustrate the staff, resulting in excessive medication or physical restraints. Although working in a nursing home can be demanding and draining for the providers, burnout is never an excuse to lay a hand on a vulnerable individual.
How to Determine If Your Loved One Suffers from Nursing Home Mistreatment
If your elderly relative with dementia is in a nursing home, you must watch out for indications of mistreatment or neglect. These warning signs may include inexplicable behavioral or health changes. You should also be vigilant for physical symptoms like bruises, burns, or malnutrition. Once you spot these red flags, you must immediately keep your loved one safe.
What Should You Do If You Suspect Care Facility Mistreatment?
Keeping your loved one safe from harm in a nursing home is not your job. That’s the staff’s responsibility. If you think your loved one suffers from mistreatment or neglect by the facility, you must act immediately to help them recover. You should report this case to the nursing home administrator and the local authorities.
Next, gather all the needed evidence like medical records, video evidence, witness statements, and pictures of the physical injuries. You may also need confidential information from the facility, so it’s wise to seek legal assistance from a professional nursing home abuse lawyer. These legal experts will tirelessly hold the nursing home accountable and give your loved ones the compensation they deserve.
Conclusion
No elderly individual deserves to experience abuse in a care facility because it can negatively affect their well-being, especially if they have dementia. You can help your loved one seek justice by being vigilant, reporting the case immediately, and consulting a professional nursing home abuse lawyer.
If you need a professional Lexington nursing home abuse lawyer, call Circeo Law Firm! Our legal experts will aggressively advocate for your elderly loved one’s rights to help them get the compensation they deserve. Schedule a free consultation now!