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The process of aging can be a frightening proposition to some. Especially if their health is such that they can no longer take care of themselves on some level. Giving up the independence of living on their own can be as stressful as getting used to living among virtual strangers in completely new and foreign surroundings. Add in underpaid staff members that handle distribution of medication, assistance in resident personal hygiene, etc. and, quite often, residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities innocently become victims of their environment. They become victims of negligence and abuse.
Negligent and abusive care in these facilities can include:
- Starvation
- Dehydration
- Over-medication
- Unauthorized medication
- Painful pressure sores
- Assault / Sexual Assault
- Battery / Sexual Battery
- Unreasonable physical restraint
- Failure to assist in personal hygiene
- Failure to protect from health and safety hazards
The elderly and infirm have rights. They have the right to be treated humanely. The Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 stipulates that a nursing home "must provide services and activities to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident in accordance with a written plan of care…" When nursing homes are not providing appropriate services, serious illness, injury and, in some cases death, can befall the residents.
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