Elder abuse comes in a wide variety of forms, ranging from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, to financial abuse and theft, or even neglect. Because abuse can be so varied in its form, a lot of people don’t know exactly what it is, or what they need to do to prevent it.
Physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse all happen in the senior care industry, both from family members and unpaid caregivers, and by professionals. This is a sad truth, and one that should be taken seriously. If you have suspicions that some sort of abuse is taking place, please call the authorities. They are trained to figure these things out and put a stop to them. Even if you are not one hundred percent sure, reasonable suspicion is a good reason to make that phone call. Most states have Good Samaritan Laws to protect you if the call was made in good faith.
Some types of abuse are a lot harder to detect. Sometimes, financial abuse isn’t even noticed. Any unauthorized transfer of money or property is financial abuse. Keeping an eye on bank records and other documents can help here.
Neglect is another type of abuse that can be hard to spot. This is why it’s so important that a family member be involved. Bed sores and soiled clothes or bed sheets can all be indicators that neglect is occurring. If you are providing family care to a loved one, have a few people involved in the process to make sure that the workload isn’t too overwhelming.
June is traditionally when Elder Abuse Awareness Day occurs, but this is really something that we need to be far more aware of on a daily basis. The more that we know about abuse and what it looks like, the more proactive all of us can be when it comes to preventing it from happening in the first place.
At Paradise In-Home Care, we are proud to say that we have been at the forefront of the senior care industry when it comes to preventing abuse from occurring. We have always taken special precautions to ensure that the people that we employ have the proper training to help spot and report cases of abuse, along with the knowledge that is necessary to prevent things like neglect from happening. All of our caregivers are thoroughly checked out before they are hired, and then extensive training is provided to make sure that they know what the best ways to prevent abuse from occurring are. All of this is done before someone ever steps foot into your house so that you can be confident that only the best professionals are working with the people that you love.
As always, if you have any questions about care, let us know. Whatever those questions or concerns might be, whether they are regarding elder abuse prevention, medication management, memory care, or any other aspect of senior care for that matter, give us a call or email. Our trained staff members would love to help you out and get you pointed in the right direction.
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