We’ve talked about elder abuse and neglect in the past, and we’ve also lightly touched upon some of the grey area where it’s just not clear whether abuse has willfully occurred, whether it was unintentional, or if there’s something else going on that is impacting the senior citizen’s health. Nowhere is this more confusing, and more dire, than when an elderly adult comes into the emergency room for treatment.
Emergency room nurses, doctors, and others have a duty to report elder abuse to the local adult protective services. This is an obligation to the patients that come in, and it is meant to keep them safe once they leave the hospital. If neglect is spotted and not reported, there is a strong chance that it will continue, and this is certainly not in the patient’s best interest. But, as mentioned before, there is a lot of grey area. It can be difficult to tell what is going on just by observing a person for a few hours, especially if there is some sort of underlying medical condition that is not being addressed.
Research and observation all show that there are plenty of opportunities to identify elder abuse when they are in the ER, and there are also many chances to talk to seniors about how they want their care laid out in the future. These opportunities, especially for future changes, are not always seized upon. Doing this will go a long way toward identifying current issues and making sure that care wishes are adhered to strictly, effectively helping caregivers to know more precisely what needs to be done, and reduce cases of accidental neglect before they occur. It is a more proactive role for many hospitals, but the benefits that they would have for seniors would be great.
This is why it is so important that we provide our loved ones with the best care that we can get. Neglect should never happen, willful or accidental, and if there is a medical problem that is ongoing, having proper care measures in place can increase the likelihood that it is found and addressed before it starts to have a huge negative impact upon our family member’s quality of life. If you are not able to provide care on your own, or if you feel that the stress of being a family caregiver is impacting your ability to help, then there are things that you can do before neglect becomes an issue. Find a great in-home care service that will come to your home and help your loved one with their activities of daily living. Consult with a physician to see if there are any new or worsening medical issues that need to be addressed. And make sure that you have the proper channels in place so that if more care is needed, you can more than adequately address your loved one’s needs. Most cases of neglect are not willful, and by by proactive with our family’s care, we can prevent this from happening on the widespread scale that it does.
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