Senior Care Myths

You did a good job of explaining the elder justice act. Before reading your post, I did not know such thing even existed. The elder justice act was passed by president Obama on march 23, 2010, as part of the patient protection and affordable care act. The main goal of the law is to give resources to help protect, prevent and act upon any forms of elder abuse. The law requires the Department of Health and Human Services to overlook and manage all federal resources to protect the elderly. The law also requires the Department of Justice to help prevent elderly abuse through education, programs, and leadership. The law also allows that all care facilities employees receive a background check and any elderly abuse in long term care facilities be

If you're concerned about elder abuse and neglect, you're not being paranoid. As terrible as it sounds, the senior population is subject to quite a bit of abuse in nursing homes.

Abuse of the elderly occurs in the home and in institutional settings such as nursing homes. The home is the principal site of care for most older people. The abuser can be any person in a position of authority or family member. Perpetrators of abuse in the home are commonly adult children, spouses or paid care workers (Heath and Schofield 1999). Often long-term caregiving relationships can lead family members or staff to ‘burn out’ and abuse may be an unfortunate consequence (Mauk, 2006). In institutional care settings such as residential and nursing homes staff are often over worked, have

If you've ever thought about senior homecare, you've probably heard or read some home care myths that made you stop and think twice about it. With only a third to a half of seniors receiving homecare going through a professional care agency, many family care providers wonder what the reluctance is. Perhaps some of the myths are true?

There are many broad and different definitions of elder abuse, and different forms and ways to deal with it. Elder abuse consists of “intentional or neglectful acts of a caregiver, family member, friend, or other individuals that lead to, or may lead to, harm of a senior citizen” (Elder Abuse Facts, 2016). One of the biggest problems we face when looking at this policy is that elder harm and abuse can happen practically anywhere. Elder abuse can happen in a private setting; in their own homes committed by their own family members (Help Guide, 2014, p.1). But it can also happen in a care center, with lots of people living in close proximity to them.

Activities of Daily Living can include just that, such as cooking/eating, bathing, personal care, toileting and help with medications. This around the clock care can be quite expensive for anyone, especially those who have already retired and were living on a fixed income, including retirement and social security. In the facility that I observed to live on the skilled care side and receive care twenty four hours a day seven days a week in a semi private room (double occupancy room), the cost was nearly $11,000 a month for each resident. The average cost across the country is $248 per day for a private room and $222 daily for a semi-private room (Costs Of Care), which for a private room can add up to over $90,000 a year. While that number is quite high assisted living can be much cheaper, at an average of $3,300 a month for the “base fee”, however each additional service that they require help from staff to complete is an additional fee. In the facility observed there was a fee for every action that staff completed or assisted with, including assistance with medication, trash, cleaning, and applying treatments such as a breathing machine. Though the cost may seem high many who do not have children or other family members to help provide care for themselves or have a condition that cannot be managed at home (due to physical or financial restraints) have no choice but to enter a long term care facility to receive help completing tasks needed for simple

Choosing a long-term care facility can be very difficult because of incidents of abuse and/or neglect reported against care facilities can be overwhelming. For example in “Ending Elder Abuse: A family guide”, Diane Sandell lists many elder abuse incidents from her files such as: neglect of decubitis ulcers led to infection, sepsis, gangrene, and death. Facility failed to provide necessary diabetic diet; improper insulin administration, insulin overdose; dehydration and death. Resident left alone in chair in shower room fell, became paralyzed from neck down. Many reports of pinching, rough handling, slapping, yelling, threats (2000). It is believed that abuse is most likely to occur if the caregiver not only finds the work difficult but also (1) works full time, (2) cares for young children, (3) is poor, (4) feels little affection for the older person, (5) finds the elderly person very difficult, and (6) gets no support or help from others (Macionis, 2005). Although there is no excuse for abusing elderly Americans, it is still very prominent in today’s society. Diane Sandell explains in Ending Elder Abuse, that her 91 year old mother was beaten by a long-term care facility employee in the middle of the night for reasons unknown. It is stated that her mother died 6 weeks after the incident, unable to recover mentally from the abuse (2000).

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

However, there are caregivers who either take crash course or receive on the job training, and just go ahead to become caregivers. Nursing home abuse therefore becomes unintentional because the staff members may not be well trained or they just memorized for the state exams. Such staff may not be able to take care of a confused or uncooperative elder and thus they may lash out at an innocent elder. This can also lead to oversight or inability of the Caregiver to recognize signs and symptoms of illnesses in the

Our elderly population is living longer than ever before and not all of them are entering into a nursing home. They are choosing to stay in their own home or their caregiver is choosing it for them. Some caregivers are choosing to move their ageing love one in the home with them. Whatever the case may be, there is an increased need for some type of home health as it applies to the elderly population. “Medicare will pay the full cost of professional help only if the physician

However, elder abuse is also common among the millions of elder Americans who reside in nursing homes. A study where 2,000 nursing home residents were interviewed, reported that 44% of the residents had been abused and 95% said they had been neglected or seen another resident neglected. They also state that 91% of nursing homes lack adequate staff to properly care for patients and 36% are known to have been in violation of elderly abuse laws (National Center on Elder Abuse). This information is extremely alarming. If these facts have already been uncovered, why is it that no one is doing anything to prevent this from happening to others?

Elder abuse includes physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as neglect, exploitation and abandonment of our older generation (Falk, 2012). The people that cause these injuries include the elderly person’s own family and staff members of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, medical rehabilitation facilities and hospitals (NCOA, 2017). There is approximately 1 in 10 older adults that have experienced some type of elder abuse in the United States (NCOA, 2017). Within these staggering numbers, only 1

Abuse can happen to anyone, but elderly adults residing in nursing homes are more vulnerable and have a higher risk for abuse (Rasansky Law Firm, 2006, para. 1). Elders are among the fastest growing in the population, and because of this many more elderly

Although it does not usually make news headlines and is rarely discussed, nursing home residents and the elderly experience abuse sometimes on a daily basis. Medical errors, physical abuse, or stealing from them could all be classified as abuse. All around the world today, a population that is not able to help itself is being harmed, whether it is physical or sexual abuse, exploitation, or not being properly supervised; the elderly and nursing home residents are being abused.

There’s a common myth that you are doomed to be on your own if you are 50 and you are not married but. Effectively, daily life in unpredictable, and usually it genuinely occurs this way – individuals die lonely. Thankfully, this is just a fantasy. The truth can be so a lot brighter. Seniors can date like ‘party animals’.