How you and DU can prevent elder abuse

[nadine_mn]

Rarely do I claim to be an expert on anything, but on elder abuse prevention and victim support, I consider myself not only an expert but a damn good one.

Many of you have heard of the story regarding the teens charged with elder abuse in a Minnesota nursing home.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28051548/

Before I was wrongfully terminated (as determined by a Minnesota employment law judge... not just me being bitter) just over a year ago; I developed the only crime victim services program that focused soley on elder abuse (both domestic and institutional) in the state of Minnesota. For 3 1/2 years I successfully ran the program and turned it into a nationally recognized resource for elder abuse prevention. I personally trained over 4,000 community members, nursing home staff, law enforcement officers, attorneys, social service workers etc across the state. I was the first person to be recognized and testify as an expert witness on elder abuse in federal administrative law proceedings here in Minnesota. I also worked with hundreds of victims and their families. I have also worked as child abuse advocate and a domestic abuse advocate.

About 2 years ago I trained the staff at the Albert Lea Good Samaritan home.


Here is what you need to know about elder abuse:
(if you want specific cites to the resources, let me know)

1. Elder abuse is one of the most underreported crimes in the country. Conservative estimates are that for every 1 case of elder abuse reported 5 go unreported, however more believe it is somewhere between 14 and 25 unreported cases.

2. Roughly 90% of elder abuse is domestic - the perpetrators are family members or spouses. Of that 90%, a majority of the abusers are adult children.

3. The effects of abuse on elders are more devasting than on other populations: as our bodies age, we are less resilient and it is more difficult to physically heal, if someone has been financially exploited, it is nearly impossible to get the money back and unlikely the elder will be able to go back to work to get their savings or retirement money back, and the emotional abuse of having your children be the perpetrators often causes victims severe depression.

4. Elder abuse is difficult to define: First what constitutes an elder varies state by states - some states say 55, some say 60, some say 65. Some states have elder abuse laws that state that if a person is say 60 and abused, then it is elder abuse (whereas if they where say 59 and abused, it would be assault). Many other states, including Minnesota have vulnerable adult laws. These laws apply to anyone age 18 and over who due to physical or mental disability are considered vulnerable. If you are an inpatient resident you are automatically considered to be a vulnerable adult. There is also confusion as to what is consider abuse and should neglect and self-neglect be included. Because there isn't a solid definition, it is difficult to legislate and prosecute.

Those are some of the facts - clearly I could go on and on...

I will not comment on the specific incident in Minnesota, because it is only a scratch on the surface of the abuse that exists.

So what can you do personally?
If you have a loved one in a nursing home - visit and visit often. Your family member or loved one is less likely to be abused if the staff know that someone will be checking in on them.

Recognize the signs of elder abuse, which can be difficult if the person has dementia. But please know this... many times a dementia patient who is being abused will have their behavior change drastically. Their behavior change is written off to the dementia, but sudden changes don't happen overnight. Patients with dementia or with Alzheimer's are more likely to be victims because they cannot tell, if they could they usually are not believed, and because they are the most difficult to treat (they require more care and patience by caregivers). This does not mean that they deserve it, it just means they are more likely to be on receiving end of frustrated abusers.

What can we do as a community?

We need to demand higher wages for nursing home staff. This may sound odd coming from an advocate for victims, but in my work I was shocked to learn that on average nursing home aides (those responisble for bathing, changing, feeding, grooming our loved ones) earn less than parking lots attendants. It is a sad comment on our priorities that we pay the person watching our cars than our elders.
Hospitals will on average pay $10-15 more an hour for aides who do the same work as nursing home aides, however they require at least a year experience. So what happens is that nursing homes have constant turnover - up to 400% a year.

We need to demand greater staff to resident ratio. The average nursing home resident of 10 years ago is very different than the nursing home resident of today. More and more elders who would have been in a nursing home 10 years ago are now in assisted living facilities. This means nursing homes usually have more chronically ill and dementia residents. These residents need constant care and staff trained on working with dementia. However instead of staff increases, there are staffing decreases and less training.

We need to demand assisted living facilities to be regulated like nursing homes. This is a crisis waiting to explode... without regulations anyone can call themselves an assisted living facility, but states do not have the oversight on care. With our country getting grayer, more people moving to alternative residences we are going to have more cases of abuse coming.

We need to prosecute perpetrators of abuse - these are heinous crimes NOT pranks.


This is longer than I intended and I am just getting revved up so I will leave it to you DU... if you want more information, resources or specific information on resources please let me know and I will gladly post more.

[uppityperson]

1. I very much agree on the higher wage part. It will get better staff, and help them stay longer.

Staff are paid minimal. There are 2 type people working in nursing homes. Those who really care and those who don't care at all. The first need to be paid more, and respected more, so they will stay. The latter, then need to not be working there and usually aren't for long.

And I agree about visiting as those who might abuse them will be less likely to.

These are crimes, not pranks by girls and boys.

[Dinger]

2. K & R, Thank You Posting This

I wish there could be public service announcements on this, like on t.v. and radio. I'm not sure if I ever heard one or saw one. This is a very important message. Again, thank you.

[MineralMan]

3. Thanks for writing that.

Your comment about visiting often is really true. My father-in-law spent some time in a nursing home after a stroke. I noticed right away that having his wife, my wife, and myself there a lot of the time got him a lot more attention from staff than other patients were getting.

Even so, it took a lot of focus to make sure he got his meds on time and in the right quantity. More times than I care to remember the wrong prescription was brought to the room, and meds were often very late. We finally had to insist that one of us double check his meds.

I'm blogging this Good Samaritan thing. You can find my site in my profile. If you'd care to discuss anything, please feel free to contact me.

[ColbertWatcher]

4. Proudly kick and rec! Thank you for posting! n/t

[jillan]

5. Thank you for posting this. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see what happens to people in nursing

homes and centers.

[DB1]

6. It is not just Care Centers, at home care can be very abusive....

and there is no regulatory agency in most cases to detect it.

[nadine_mn]

7. so can families

the abuse is everywhere, and a population that is unable or too ashamed to speak up. Imagine never being believed, being told you are senile for speaking out...

our elders are truly silent victims

[burythehatchet]

12. I think the incidence of abuse is too great especially within families

I saw it in my own family and it is horrifying. There's a lot more than we can imagine, sadly.

[jillan]

14. I used to work at a bank, and some asshole son would bring in his old father

all the time and convince his father to withdraw $$.

The poor old man always smelled like urine.

It was heartbreaking. Stuff like that happens all of the time.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. As a former medic I know what you speak off

seen it as well... and when my dad broke his hip we made sure one of us was at the residential hospital during the day.

That was the reason

And why I, sadly, was not surprised or shocked by the story

[Alameda]

9. Excellent post, thank you!

Another thing to consider is that if we live long enough, many of us will be in exactly the situation to "really" appreciate how important this is. How many of us have much of a loving extended family? We are all vulnerable.

[lamp_shade]

10. Thank you.

[burythehatchet]

11. Excellent. When I was trying to staff my assisted living community

my biggest competition was the new Olive Garden or Wendy's. And it's good that you bring up the frontline caregivers because this group is very under-represented. Doctor, families, owners, investors all have associations and lobbyists to protect their interests but caregivers are a;ways last in line.

[tilsammans]

13. Thank you for all you do . . .

. . . to help folks who are cannot advocate for themselves. :grouphug: :loveya:

Indeed, one of the most important things a family can do for its loved one in a nursing home is to be there as often as possible. And to speak up if something looks awry. I tried to see my mom every day in the year and a half she was a patient. The staff there told me that I was one of the few people who ever came AT ALL.

Nevertheless, there were a few instances where her care was questionable. Like a big cut on her leg that wasn't treated properly. I suspect she was dropped, and whoever was responsible didn't ask for help so it never got reported.