Personal Injury Blog

Learn to Look for Signs of Elder Abuse This Week

June 27th, 2011
Signs of Elder Abuse

There are many signs of potential elder abuse.

Last Wednesday, was marked as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day across the country.  This week, Los Angeles nursing home abuse lawyers would encourage Californians to become aware about the signs of Elder abuse.

Elder abuse can be not just physical abuse, but also verbal, mental, psychological, emotional and sexual abuse.  Not all kinds of abuse are easy to spot.  Physical signs of abuse may be the easiest to see.  Look for the following signs that your loved one is being abused at a nursing facility.

  • Unexplained bruises
  • Unexplained wounds
  • Signs of unnecessary physical restraint
  • Fractures
  • Welts
  • Sores
  • Pressure marks
  • Drugging in order to restrain residents

Abuse may also be said to occur, if the person suffers from physical neglect.  Residents of a nursing home are dependent on caregivers for even the most basic needs.  Signs of physical neglect may include

  • Bedsores
  • Malnutrition
  • Dehydration
  • Poor physical hygiene and appearance
  • Failure to administer medications on time
  • Lack of basic supplies of food and water
  • Lack of basic medical devices like reading glasses and hearing aids
  • Lack of clean linen
  • Fire safety hazards

While signs of physical neglect and abuse are easier to spot, it’s much harder to look out for signs of mental abuse.  Unfortunately, elders are already in a fragile state of mind, and because of their advanced years may be at a high risk of mental abuse by caregivers.  A person who is being mentally abused may be threatened by caregivers.

He may be isolated from others, and his visits may be restricted.  Look out for signs that the caregiver is trying to keep you from speaking to your loved one.  These are signs of elder abuse.  Also note the personality of the character.  Is he aggressive?  Does he display violent tendencies?  Does he seem controlling?  Does he seem uncaring?

Elders in California may also be subjected to sexual abuse.  Unfortunately, the signs of such abuse are much harder to decipher, and the person may be so traumatized, that he or she may not be able to talk about their experience.  Typically however, a person who’s being sexually abused in a nursing home may have lack of control about over his bowel and bladder movements, and may show signs of panic, anxiety and edginess all the time.

Besides signs of physical and mental abuse, there may be other signs that your loved one is at a high risk for abuse at a facility.  A facility that is understaffed typically sees higher rates of abuse.  Caring for older persons, who may have a number of physical and emotional issues that need constant attention, requires adequate numbers of staff members.  When the facility has few staff members, elders may be at risk of neglect and abuse.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of elder abuse. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire to discuss a personal injury matter,  you can reach us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

 

 

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