Elder abuse is far more than just younger people taking advantage of the elderly people they are entrusted to care for. It is a series of events that take place over time resulting in neglect, fear, anger, and pain. While it might not always be clear whether or not one event is an example of this, when it is happening repeatedly over time, the case for elder abuse becomes much more clear. It doesn’t matter where the care is taking place; it can be at a nursing home, it can be from an in-home caregiver, it could even be a family caregiver. The important thing to remember is that if you have an older loved one that is in need of assistance, you need to be their eyes and ears in order to protect them. Prevention is the best way to stop elder abuse.
One instance of neglect is not abuse. Abuse occurs when the neglect happens over the period of days, or even hours, depending upon the physical needs of the person being cared for. This is why it’s so important to know exactly what your loved one’s needs are before finalizing any sort of care plan. If there is a need that you know of that is not being met, you need to communicate that with the caregiver so that it can be covered. If they are not covering the need even after having knowledge of it, then action needs to be taken. Often, this can be as simple as just finding a new caregiver to help out. Other times, the steps you need to take should be more severe. Contacting senior services or even the police may be warranted. This is a personal decision, of course, but you do need to take the other people that a problematic caregiver may be in contact with. You don’t want to punish someone needlessly, but you also don’t want others suffering as a result.
For example, if someone is in a nursing home or assisted living facility and is being given meals there, it is the facility’s responsibility to ensure that the resident is getting adequate nutrition. Their meals should be well balanced, edible, and nutritious. If the resident is having trouble eating it, alternative meals should be provided. This might mean that the food needs to be chopped up in a processor, or it might mean that alternative sources of nutrition must be provided. In the end, the people in charge of the home have that responsibility, and if the meals are not adequate, things have been reported, and no changes have been made, an instance of elder abuse has occurred. No one wants their loved one in this situation, and although speaking out about it might not be easy, it is the best way to ensure that the problem stops and no one else is hurt by it.
That’s what we often forget. Elder abuse isn’t a one time thing. If it is happening to one of our loved ones by a caregiver outside the family, there’s no reason to believe that that caregiver isn’t doing the same thing elsewhere. By being proactive, hiring professionally trained caregivers with background checks, and being observant, we can help our family. If we need to, we should report instances of suspected abuse to help save others that same heartache down the road.
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