Elderly patients often are the most likely people to suffer injury and illness because of the neglect or abuse of nursing homes, hospitals, or home caregivers. For example, failure to provide adequate food and water or assistance with eating and drinking can lead to dehydration and malnutrition, leading to other complications such as urinary tract infections and life-threatening conditions such as sepsis.
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Overview of Physical and Emotional Neglect
Injuries can result from physical and emotional neglect or abuse of the elderly. Examples of nursing home or caregiver neglect include:
- Failure to provide healthy foods
- Failure to provide sufficient water
- Failure to care for daily personal hygiene
- Failure to provide early and effective medical treatment
- Isolation or confinement of an elderly patient
Nursing home or caregiver neglect can be difficult to recognize because elderly patients may be unable to communicate due to dementia, confusion, or even fear of retaliation by their abusers. This is why it is even more important for family members to be vigilant and to look for any signs of possible neglect or abuse of elderly patients.
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Examples of Physical Neglect of the Elderly
- Inadequate housing or shelter
- Lack of supervision
- Insufficient food or water or failure to provide assistance with eating or drinking, which can lead to weight loss, dehydration or malnutrition
- Delay or denial of medical care
- Failure to prevent or treat bed sores
- Failure to carry out doctor’s orders
- Lack of assistance with bathing or hygiene
- Unnecessarily keeping the elder restrained in bed or in a chair
- Inadequate assistance to help the elder move around, either in bed or within the house or facility
- Failure to provide access and assistance to the toilet, which can lead to urinary track infections (UTIs)
- Unnecessary or needlessly prolonged catheterization, which can lead to severe UTIs
- Failure to change the elder’s diapers or disposable briefs, which can lead to skin damage from sitting in urine and feces, as well as loss of dignity
To identify more intimate signs of neglect, it may be necessary to discretely examine undergarments or skin in intimate areas, to see if they are soiled with urine or feces. Helpless elderly patients who are left to lie in their bodily waste for extended periods of time are likely to develop painful and dangerous bed sores that are entirely preventable with good patient care.
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Malnutrition and Dehydration
If an elderly loved one in a nursing home, hospital, or with a home caregiver is losing weight or unusually listless, it may be that the patient is not receiving sufficient nourishing food to maintain good health, and may be suffering from severe malnutrition. Dry or cracked skin and lips, may be signs of lack of water or other fluids, causing dehydration. Dehydration can lead to other complications, such as urinary tract infections (UTIs).
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Urinary Tract Infections in the Elderly
Elderly patients are at greater risk to develop urinary tract infections (UTIs) because of age-related changes affecting the urinary tract.
Weakened bladder muscles can lead to less efficient bladder emptying, or incontinence. Also, with age, the kidneys become less efficient in removing waste and producing secretions that help prevent infection. Bacterial growth can increase if the bladder is not voided regularly, which in turn can lead to UTIs and other more severe complications, such as sepsis, a potentially life-threatening infection of the bloodstream.
UTIs are often difficult to diagnose in the elderly as they often don't cause painful urination. In fact, a sudden change in behavior is one of the best indicators of a UTI in the elderly. Some common warning signs include:
- Urinary incontinence
- Confusion
- Inability to do tasks the elderly person could easily do a day or two before
To help prevent UTIs, it is important for nursing home staff and caregivers to make sure the elderly drink plenty of water to help flush out the urinary tract and assist them in using the bathroom more frequently to empty their bladder.
Unnecessary or needlessly prolonged catheterization can also contribute to severe UTIs in the elderly.
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Emotional Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly
Examples of emotional abuse and neglect of the elderly include:
- Not attending to elder’s calls for help or ignoring moans indicating pain or discomfort
- Failure to provide for the elder’s need for friendship or affection
- Failure to provide necessary psychological care, such as medication for depression
- Isolating the elder, including restricting phone calls, mail, visitors, and outings
- Verbally abusing, yelling at or belittling the elder
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Contact a Nursing Home Lawyer, Elder Abuse Attorney
The best way to stop the neglect and abuse of helpless elders is to make sure that the facilities and people who victimize the elderly are held responsible for their behavior and are appropriately punished. The attorneys at Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff have experience representing the elderly, dependent adults and their families in cases of elder abuse and neglect.
If you believe that you or a loved one is the victim of elder abuse or neglect, our experienced nursing home abuse attorneys and elder abuse lawyers can help you investigate your claim, take legal action against the perpetrators, and improve the quality of life for the victim of such abuse. Please fill out and submit the contact form on this page for a free and confidential case evaluation or call us toll-free at (888) 285-3333.