The headlines are scary. From cigarette burns to sexual assault, elder abuse is one of the more heinous crimes in our world. If you have the responsibility of caring for aging parents, the worry of how your loved one is being looked after can keep you up at night.
You can protect your loved one, though. Caring for aging parents starts by recognizing the signs of abuse as well as risk factors that potentially create an abusive environment.
Sexual Abuse
An elderly woman's pelvic bone was broken during a sexual assault by another patient in an Illinois nursing home in 2006. In another case, an employee at a care facility was convicted of raping and assaulting a 90-year-old woman.
If you're caring for an aging parent, you know that few things are more stomach-churning than the thought of sexual abuse against the elderly in a nursing home. Sexual abuse includes rape, indecent touching, and sexual assault, as well as coerced sex or forced nudity.
If the person you've hired to help in the caring for aging parents is sexually abusing your family member, here are some of the signs: inappropriate affection by a home employee, bruises on the inner thighs, breasts, buttocks, or genitals, torn or stained clothing, or fear of a particular staff member.
Emotional abuse
When those caring for an aging parent intentionally inflict mental anguish or distress toward your loved one, the result is emotional abuse. This form of abuse includes humiliation, threats of violence or sex abuse, insults, and forced isolation.
Caring for aging parent strategies should include being aware of the signs that a caregiver is emotionally abusing your loved one. These warning signals include out-of-character anger, silence or sullenness, unwillingness to talk openly, confusion or disorientation not due to a medical condition, and fear.
Physical abuse
The allegations are shocking. The nursing director of one California home has been accused of restraining elderly patients by giving them powerful drugs, resulting in the deaths of three of the residents. The state's attorney generals said the director drugged one of the patients simply for glaring at her.
From shoving and hitting to kicking and spitting, experts say physical abuse is the number one type of abuse directed at the elderly. Bruises, burns, puncture wounds, and unexplained weight loss are all telltale signs that the person you've trusted in caring for aging parents may be abusing your family member. Also, if your loved one is reluctant to discuss how they got an injury, it can be a sign of physical abuse.
Neglect
In 2001 a nursing home resident wandered into a courtyard after employees had disabled alarms so they could smoke outside. The door locked behind her, trapping the woman, who had a heart ailment, outside. The result of the negligence? The 88-year-old died of exposure.
In short, negligence happens when the staff doesn't do its job. One of the more common forms of abuse among those hired to help in caring for aging parents, some of the signs include obvious malnutrition, patients not clothed properly, the smell of feces or urine on the resident, and untreated medical conditions.
Financial exploitation
From forging a senior's signature to coercing an elderly person into signing a will or other contract, financial exploitation is another nursing home nightmare. Signs of financial abuse by those you've hired to help in caring for an aging parent might include inappropriate bank account activity, obviously forged signatures, or recent changes in legal documents-especially if your family member is incapable of making informed decisions.
Protect your loved one from abuse
Experts in elder abuse say that there are some risk factors that indicate a facility or its employees have the potential for abusive behavior. As part of your caring for your aging parent, watch out for facilities with poor building maintenance overcrowding, high employee turnover rate, or high employee absenteeism.
Anytime you suspect those charged with caring for your aging parents are being abusive, contact local law enforcement as well as your local agency on aging.
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