How To Detect The Signs Of Assisted Living Or Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing home or assisted living abuse is extremely harmful. If you suspect a loved one is a victim of such abuse, you might wonder how you can determine for sure what's happening. Check for the following four signs that abuse might be happening.
Unexplained Dehydration or Weight Loss
Weight loss and dehydration are common signs of nursing home abuse or neglect. If caretakers aren't regularly feeding people, they'll lose weight.
People often dismiss this as something that comes with age. However, many nursing homes have younger residents with disabilities or other needs. Look at those residents and see if they have similar symptoms. Also, talk to their family members to learn if they have similar concerns about the possibility of abuse.
Financial Drawdowns
When people think about abuse, they often focus on physical harm or neglect. However, financial exploitation is another form of abuse. Someone in an assisted living arrangement might depend on a caregiver to handle part or all of their finances. For example, they might hand their bank card to a nurse when the caregiver goes to the store. Some caregivers take advantage of this financial opportunity to steal.
If you're seeing financial drawdowns that don't make sense, then you should investigate. Bear in mind that some abuse victims might side with the abuser in these situations. Abusers often convince their victims that the spending is necessary or justifiable. However, anyone working in an assisted living setup should have access to the money they need to cover things like gas for trips to the store without taking money from the folks they're helping.
Emotional Withdrawal or Anger
This is another symptom that can be tough to nail down because people often associate it with aging or disability. However, you should at least be suspicious if a loved one emotionally withdraws. Even if they might have a disorder like Alzheimer's syndrome, you should consider the possibility that the changes connect with nursing home abuse.
Bear in mind that abusers often intimidate victims to discourage them from telling others what's happening. Victims may not immediately tell you what's going on, so try to be patient in sorting out what's happening.
Public Records
Wherever assisted living abuse has happened before, it has a good chance of happening again. If you suspect abuse is occurring, check the public records for the business. Talk to the editors at the local newspapers or TV stations, too. Operations that ignore or even participate in abuse tend to have bad track records.
Contact a professional for more information about identifying nursing home abuse.