hw 30

For this project I decided to take a look at the abuse of the elderly in nursing homes. The behind the scenes of what happens to the elderly in 1 in 3 nursing homes, there are reports on the elderly residents experiencing a range of abuse from the very people (care takers/nurses) who the families of the residents have entrusted to provide the necessary care for their loved ones. The abuse experienced by residents have been mental abuse like unjustified isolation or humiliating comments being made to them by staff, physical abuse where the elderly experience physical harm to their bodies by the care takers and neglect from the staff which leads the patients to have untreated medical conditions, poor personal hygiene and malnutrition or dehydration just to name a few.(http://www.nursing-home-abuse-resource.com/nursing_home_abuse/signs.html)

For this project my group members and I decided we would visit local nursing homes. Prior to the visit we made a couple of phone calls to see if we could come in and ask the residents a couple of questions but people we spoke to on the phone were very curt and seemed very hesitant of having people come in to the nursing home speaking to the residents claiming “the residents would not like it” and that no staff members would be like it either. Which prompted us to do research on what happens to some peoples loved ones after they leave them all alone at the nursing home with people they thought would care for them.

This relates to the isolation of the sick and dying discussed during this unit. In this case the residents at nursing homes are being isolated by the people who are supposed to be caring for them. Instead they are mentally abusing them by not showing them any attention during a time in their lives were they desperately need the love, care and attention of others. This type of abuse can also go unrecognized since it’s all mental for the residents. This shows that they are being isolated by staff members who aren’t showing them adequate care. The isolation leads them to being poorly treated in these “homes”.

I found that the federal government is the biggest contributor of nursing home care, mostly through Medicaid, a joint federal-state health care program for the poor, and Medicare, the federal program for elderly and disabled people. Federal health and safety standards are designed to protect nursing home residents from abuse. This seems to contradict with the claim that instances of abuse are on the rise. (http://www.nursing-home-abuse-resource.com/nursing_home_abuse/abcnews_article.html)

I also found cases of abuse like one care taker who walked into a resident’s room and telling them “I'm tired of your ass," and hitting them in the face , breaking their nose. (http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92689&page=1) This is a clear incident of physical abuse and the poor treatment of the care taker on the resident. There were many other cases relating to the physical abuse of the elderly at nursing homes by the staff.

I learned that something needs to be done about the treatment of the elderly in nursing homes. That not all nursing homes abuse their residents, but there are some out there and often the abuse is hidden behind closed doors by the staff and the residents because they are afraid. I think that people need to keep in mind that this is how you’re loved one could be treated at a nursing home and research could be done before sending them off to what you think is going to be a “home” for them. This shows that some aspects of illness and dying in our culture are hidden or not spoken about because of its nature , but needs to be.

sources:
-http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92689&page=1
-http://www.nursing-home-abuse-resource.com/nursing_home_abuse/abcnews_article.html
-http://www.nursing-home-abuse-resource.com/nursing_home_abuse/signs.html
-http://law.freeadvice.com/estate_planning/elder_law/government_regulation_nursing_homes.htm