Ultimately, families want to know that someone is taking their concerns seriously.
Residents and their families can be quick to complain of abuse or neglect when a nursing home fails to meet care expectations. But failing to meet a family’s preferences and failing to provide the care a resident actually needs and is entitled to receive aren’t necessarily the same thing.
When a preference isn’t met, it can lead to frustration, friction, and feelings that a resident’s desires aren’t valued. When needs aren’t met, it can have a dangerous impact on a resident’s mental, emotional, and physical health. The latter is more often the point where care facilities cross the line into abuse and neglect.
For families who have entrusted loved ones to elder care and those who represent them, it’s important to understand the signs of abuse and neglect, the circumstances that can lead to them, and when it’s time to get an attorney involved.
How to know when elders are experiencing physical abuse and neglect
To start, families should pay attention to patterns of behavior rather than one isolated incident. The totality of what’s happening is the important thing. While one bad meal or one missed request doesn’t necessarily establish neglect, a continuing pattern of inadequate care, particularly when the facility knows about the problem and fails to correct it, is much more concerning.
The warning signs of physical abuse or neglect that families should look for include:
- Unexplained injuries
- Falls
- Pressure sores
- Dehydration or malnutrition
- Poor hygiene
- Medication errors
- Unexplained changes in behavior
- Untreated medical conditions
- A resident becoming fearful or unusually withdrawn
Whereas evidence of abusive behavior can be obvious, the signs of neglect are often more subtle. Some of the most serious cases involve basic needs simply not being addressed, such as failing to reposition a bedbound resident, assist with eating and drinking, provide appropriate supervision, or respond to changes in a resident’s medical condition.
What are issues that can lead to elder abuse and neglect
Knowing the factors that commonly lead to abuse or neglect can make it easier to identify when it’s taking place. One common contributing factor is inadequate staffing or supervision. When a facility doesn’t have enough properly trained staff to meet residents’ needs, important care processes can get off track.
Poor communication is another factor that can lead to abuse or neglect. Problems reported by residents that aren’t communicated to the next shift will likely continue. Poor documentation can compound the problem.
A lack of effective monitoring is another factor, and one that can easily go undetected. It’s dangerous for families to assume everything happening inside a facility is being properly monitored simply because the facility is licensed. A license doesn’t guarantee proper oversight. Families need to remain involved and ask questions to ensure proper oversight is in place.
When it is the right time for getting an attorney involved
When families see signs of neglect or abuse, they should take steps to make sure their loved one is safe. Addressing an immediate medical emergency or threat to the resident should be the priority.
Once the immediate situation is addressed, families should document what they know. This includes taking photographs when appropriate, keeping a written timeline, saving communications with the facility, and writing down the names of people they spoke with and what was said.
Families that suspect abuse or neglect shouldn’t wait until they can prove their suspicions to involve an attorney. That’s precisely what an investigation is for. If there’s a serious unexplained injury, repeated falls, pressure injuries, medication problems, significant weight loss or dehydration, suspected physical or sexual abuse, or a pattern of the facility failing to respond to complaints, then it would be considered reasonable to speak with an attorney.
An attorney can help determine which records need to be obtained and preserved, as well as whether the facts actually support a legal claim. An initial consultation doesn’t mean the family has decided to sue, but simply that they’re gathering information about their options.
What attorneys should know about abuse and neglect cases
Attorneys engaging in potential abuse or neglect cases must keep in mind that families are typically coming to them at one of the worst points in their lives. They may feel guilty that they didn’t recognize something sooner, angry at the facility, or uncertain about whether what happened was actually abuse or neglect.
Although it can be helpful for attorneys to be comforting in these moments, they should also be clear about the path forward. Attorneys must explain what they know, what they don’t know, and what they’ll do to find out. But they should not make promises about the outcome before the evidence has been reviewed.
It’s also important for attorneys to make it clear that families do not need to act as investigators. Nor do they have to know whether a particular incident constitutes negligence, elder abuse, or malpractice. The family’s job is to tell the attorney what they observed and what their loved one experienced. The attorney’s job is to investigate the facts and determine what the law provides.
Ultimately, families want to know that someone is taking their concerns seriously. Attorneys can fulfill that role by being honest with their clients — even when the facts aren’t what they hoped they would be — and keeping them informed throughout the process.
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