Types of Nursing Home Abuse

Some common types of elder abuse are physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, neglect or financial exploitation.

Physical Abuse- Physical abuse is an injury, physical pain or impairment resulting from physical violence. The injury from physical elder abuse may be the result of:

 ·         Pushing, kicking, slapping or beating

·         Hitting, shaking, shoving or punching

·         Hair pulling, biting or slapping

·         Burning with hot objects etc.

Sexual Abuse-Sexual abuse includes non-consensual contact, language or behavior, rape, and sexual assault. Other examples include: touching or kissing an elderly person’s genitals, forcing an elderly person to undress, making sexually explicit phone calls in the presence of an elderly person without their consent, spying on an adult in the bathroom, forcing an adult to watch sexual acts and showing pornography to an elderly person.

Emotional Abuse-Emotional abuse occurs when a caregiver fails to provide emotional love, support, and affection to nursing home residents. This includes neglect of an elderly person’s emotional needs and failure to provide passionate care, as and when needed. Elder emotional abuse can range from a simple verbal insult to an extreme form of rudeness. Surprisingly, this form of abuse can have more long-lasting negative psychiatric effects than either sexual abuse or physical abuse.

Neglect- Neglect is a very common type of elder abuse. Neglect is not giving the elderly person the care they need such as adequate food, medicines, dental care, hygiene etc.

If you suspect any of the signs of elder abuse or neglect in a nursing home or assisted living facility, contact California nursing home abuse lawyer or assisted living facility abuse attorney in Long Beach now!

Recognize the Signs of Elder Abuse to Prevent More Serious Harm

Abuse is the deliberate mistreatment of an adult that causes emotional, mental, financial, or physical harm or caused damage to or loss of assets. Abuse may include bullying, forcing a person to watch sexual activities, physical assault, humiliation or ridicule, theft, fraud, misuse of bank accounts, denial of privacy or other basic human rights. However, the first step in helping abused or neglected elderly person is learning to recognize the signs and symptoms of elder abuse and neglect. 

Signs and symptoms of elder abuse-

Physical- Consider the possibility of elder abuse when an elderly person has broken bones or skull fractures, unexplained burns, bites, bruises, internal injury or bleeding. 

Sexual Abuse- When an elderly person reports nightmares or bedwetting, has difficulty walking or sitting or a sudden change in appetite. 

Emotional abuse- Shows extreme changes in behavior, such as demanding behavior or aggression. Reports when the caregiver constantly blames, humiliates, belittles or berates an elderly person. 

Financial abuse- Stealing the identity, property or inheritance of an elderly person and misuse of power of attorney and bank accounts are the common signs of financial abuse. 

 

Neglect- Neglect is the failure of a nursing home or assisted living facility to provide for an elder’s basic needs. Neglect may be physical, medical, or even emotional. Some common signs of neglect include poor hygiene, lack of food, malnutrition, dehydration etc. 

However, it is important to recognize the signs of elder abuse to prevent more serious harm. And if you suspect elder abuse in a nursing home or assisted living facility, contact nursing home abuse attorney in California now or contact an elder abuse lawyer in Arizona for the legal help!