What Can We Do as a Society to Prevent Elder Abuse?
Seniors in nursing homes are sometimes subject to abuse when the facility is negligent. This could be from not having enough staff to take care of their residents or if there is a malicious person working for the home. In any case, it’s a terrible thing to learn that your loved one has gone through elder abuse. While holding negligent individuals accountable for their actions will help, you may be wondering if there are any other ways that elder abuse can be prevented. There are a few tips that will help you stay in touch with your loved one and make it less likely for them to be abused or neglected.
Ways to Prevent Elder Abuse
Many of the ways to prevent elder abuse center around your loved one’s health and seeing who interacts with them on a day to day basis. This can apply to seniors who live in nursing homes or who still live on their own. Let’s break down those ideas into more concrete concepts:
Keep Seniors Engaged and Active
Seniors who regularly exercise and participate in social events have a better chance of keeping their minds sharp. It’s good for their overall health and promotes a sense of independence and wellbeing. These seniors are less susceptible to certain kinds of abuse, such as financial. They’ll also have a better chance of vocalizing any issues. Unfortunately, seniors who have poorer health may have issues with speech or verbalizing that there’s an issue.
Communicate Regularly
Speak regularly with your loved one. Know what their schedule is like, what their day-to-day activities are. You’ll know about anything exciting that they’re looking forward to and will also get a sense of their community engagement. If they sound sad or more closed off, this could indicate something is amiss.
Be Wary of Who Is Allowed to Care for Your Loved One
If your loved one needs a caregiver, do extensive research and ask for references. If a caregiver has been let go from many families before or has notable financial debt, they may try to take advantage of your loved one’s finances. This is a sad thing to consider, but many caregivers may help themselves to your loved one’s credit card.
Keep Seniors Informed About Their Affairs
Seniors have rights to make their own financial and medical decisions. If something major is occurring in their life, they have a right to know about it and have the final say. Anyone trying to box them out of their own life probably doesn’t have their best interests at heart.
Notice Red Flags
Keep a sharp eye for warning signs from those around you. This could even include family members. If anyone suddenly tries to make changes to important documents, such as your loved one’s will, who is in charge of their financial accounts, names on land titles, or anything that is your loved one’s business, do not allow this to happen. If a family member seems to be trying to take over your loved one’s assets, get a lawyer immediately. We understand how difficult it can be when family is involved, but you owe it to protect what rightfully belongs to your loved one.
Keeping these in mind, you can help make your loved one more safe and less likely to be abused or neglected.
Golden Law Office Can Help You
No matter how many precautions or steps you take to prevent elder abuse, it can still happen. If it does, you need to get your loved one to a safe place as soon as possible. When they’re in an environment that you don’t have to worry about, you can start taking steps to get them justice and make sure the person who abused them faces consequences for their actions.
A nursing home abuse lawyer from Golden Law Office in Lexington will help you fight on your loved one’s behalf. We’ve handled elder abuse cases before and we have the experience necessary to get you favorable results. We’ll do everything possible to prove that the nursing home neglected your loved one and caused them harm that could have been prevented.
It’s important to contact us as soon as possible. Physical evidence can fade away and if it’s discovered and documented, could be a major help for your claim. Then we’ll continue to make sure your loved one gets fair compensation for what they’ve been through and the nursing home will see what their neglect caused—this may spur them to change their policies and behaviors to prevent this from ever happening again.
Golden Law is a local, Kentucky Law Firm, attorneys/lawyers in Fayette County, Kentucky, working in the fields of personal injury, auto accidents, car and truck wrecks; medical malpractice: doctors, hospitals & nursing homes; senior living abuse: neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse, dehydration, bedsores, catastrophic injuries, and broken bones. If you are considering a lawsuit, call us at 859.469.5000 for a free consultation. We are located at 771 Corporate Dr. Suite 800/ Lexington, Kentucky 40503. We handle cases all over the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We have represented and trained people in major insurance companies & major trucking companies. We have first hand experience and know the ‘inside of the insurance business’ … that’s a distinction that no other law firm can make. We’re Your Advocate. Dale Golden, Laraclay Parker.
