Nursing Home Abuse

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention standardly defines elder abuse as “any abuse and neglect of persons age 60 or older by a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust” (CDC, Elder Abuse). It is always thought that the elderly are treated with honor, dignity and respect but many of the elderly have been abused and neglected as much if not worse than the children we spoke of in our previous discussions. Who seriously could hurt these frail people, someone’s grandparents, possibly even your own; persons who because of the aging process have lost their ability to fight back and are being bullied or attacked by someone in a position of trust. It is estimated that 70% to 90% of the perpetrators of elderly

Physical activity - If the person is not very active during the day, they may not feel hungry. Encouraging them to be active will be good for their wellbeing and may increase their appetite. Equally, if the person is very active or restless (walking about or fidgeting) they may use extra calories and need to eat more to replace them.

Is it worth putting your loved ones in a nursing home facility? According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Each year, hundreds of thousands of adults over the age of 60 are abused, neglected, or financially exploited.” Family members of an elderly person might assume that because they are paying such a large amount of money for assistance and a room in the facility, that they’re getting the best treatment and care for their relative. Although one might believe their loved ones would be better off in a nursing home, they might be putting them at a greater risk of abuse due to understaffing, lack of training within the staff, neglect, nurse burnout, and low wages. 2,150,000 cases

When living at home with dementia the individual will have professional help come to them to help with daily tasks such as supervising medication intake, enabling optimum health and safety at home, providing a patient listening ear and friendly face, cooking, housekeeping and general errands, helping to facilitate routine, familiarly and comfort for their loved one at a difficult time. When someone moves from their home into a care home it can be very

Signs of physical abuse can be unusual shaped markings, sores, bruising and unexplained regular falls and injuries in

Signs of physical abuse in adults are: bruising, particularly in well-protected and covered areas, fractures, sprains or dislocations,

While writing this essay, I have analyzed the strengths and limitations of the policies for the elderly. When I read different articles for writing this essay, I understood that elder abuse in Canada is not considered as a common issue rather ageism is considered as structural violence (Banerjee, Daly, Armstrong, Szebehely, Armstrong & Lafrance, 2012). Also, I understood that the very old with limited or no functional capacity, the poor and women are more vulnerable to ageism and this issue remains as unrecognized and untouched (Donovan & Regehr, 2010)

Signs and symptoms of physical abuse: Unexplained bruising, cuts or burns. Unexplained injuries and falls. Restraining someone inappropriately without a reason. Malnutrition, ulcers, bed sore and being left in wet clothing. Inappropriate sanctions including deprivation of food, clothing, warmth and health care needs.

Living alone - If the person with dementia is living on their own, they may experience difficulties preparing food, locating food or remembering to eat what is provided. Meals on wheels may no longer be helpful because they forget to eat the meal delivered unless prompted. These are signs that the person needs more help.

The best way to indicate if an elder is being abused is by looking at signs or indicators. According to Watson, E. (2013) the signs and symptoms of physical abuse in nursing homes are Bruising, burns, broken bones, lacerations, scars, welts—check symmetry/asymmetry. In addition, some residents could also behave differently because of the pain they go through from their injuries. For instance, if a resident complains about the pain it's a good way to investigate. Also for the residents who aren’t able to speak. It’s always better for the staff to notice different behavior, action and facial expressions from the elders. According to Dyer, C., & Rowe, J. (1999) possible physical indicators of physical abuse General Features: will include injuries inconsistent with history disparity in hygiene between dependent and career, and evidence of poor nutrition or dehydration.

This book has two focuses. The first part was about present general information about elder abuse and neglect. The authors start their book by defining elder abuse and descripting senior adults as a vulnerable population. They focus on identifying the five factors of elder abuse by reviewing some studies of elder abuse and neglect. According to sociological, psychological, and gerontological literature on family relations, the authors explain some reasons of occurring this issue such as intra-individual dynamics, intergenerational, dependency and exchange relations between abusing and abused persons, external stress, and social isolation. The second part of the book focuses on victims and the abuse situation itself. Through comparative analyses,

Elder Abuse is often a silent crime that involves the mistreatment or exploitation of an elderly person. This is a very important issue for the State of Florida to be concerned with since the state is very popular for retirement age people due to good weather and low taxes . As the elderly population grows in the Sunshine State, so does this incident rate for elder abuse cases. Elder abuse can manifest itself in many ways such as physical abuse, hitting, beating, pushing or really anything that will hurt or harm a person. Mental abuse such as, verbal attacks, isolation from other loved ones, threats to their well being. Financial abuse such as, spending funds without permission or having them sign their assets over without full comprehension

McKie, David. (2007). Beaten down: Fear and violence in Canada's nursing homes. Retrieved May 1, 2009.

Elders who are victims may not disclose the abuse due to fear of repercussions and fear they may not be believed, or they may be dependent on the abuser. Older persons who self-report may be biased due to fear of reprisal or social desirability (Beach, year, p. 756). In addition, “seniors may be reluctant to seek help from relatives or friends, fearing that asking for assistance might be construed as an indicator that they are no longer able to care for themselves” (Hill, 2005) or a fear of retaliation (Malks, year). There may also be some error due to memory or recall. In the key findings of the research done by the AARP, “victims 55 years of age and older were significantly less likely to acknowledge that they were defrauded

In general, it is normal for older adults to eat less compared to younger people. It is said to be a counterbalance to the decrease in physical activity that is a part of the aging process. Decrease in energy intake is often said to be greater than the decrease in energy expenditure. Hence, in elderly over 70 years of age, loss in body weight is common as they do not eat enough to meet the energy demands. Energy intake on average decreased by approximately 30% between 20 and 80 years of age. [1] Based on the cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), an average decline in energy intake between the age of 20 and 80 years of 1321 cal/day in men and 629 cal/day in women were reported. [2] The reduction in energy