Nursing home abuse, along with elder abuse, is a problem in Alabama. In fact, did you know that the Alabama Adult Protective Services investigated 5,125 reports of abuse in 2008. If you think that’s bad, consider the statistics from the National Center on Elder Abuse. The administration states that nursing home abuse was found in 44 percent of patient cases when investigating 2,000 nursing home patients in the year 2000.
In May 2008, there was another study completed by the U.S. General Accountability Office. That study showed that many surveys understate the problems in licensed facilities, with 70 percent of those state surveys missing at least one deficiency. It was also found that 15 percent of surveys missed signs of actual harm of the jeopardy of nursing home patients.
If someone you love is in a nursing home, these statistics may shock you and make you concerned for their welfare. The 2000 survey also described that 95 percent of patients claimed they had been neglected; that’s far too high a number for a licensed facility.
The National Center on Elder Abuse states that those who have experienced even modest elder abuse had a 300 percent higher risk of death compared to people who had not been abused. On top of that, those who have been through elder abuse also show higher signs of psychological stress than those who haven’t been made victims.
Of course, if your family member has been abused, you do have a right to have your case investigated and brought to the attention of the courts. You may be able to stop the abuse and help prevent it from ever happening again.
Source: Alabama Elder Abuse Reporting, “Alabama Resources” Aug. 05, 2014
