Articles Posted in Elder Abuse

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Realizing that an elderly parent needs to move into a nursing home to receive the level of care they need can be difficult — both emotionally for their adult children and other family members and in terms of finding a safe and high-quality facility. When you are looking at potential nursing homes in Orange County or elsewhere in Southern California, it is important to consider a wide range of factors. You should think about indicators of good care and safety at a facility just as carefully as potential red flags that arise during a visit. It is always important to visit ahead of time and to be sure that you have a chance to see a facility before staff members can fully plan ahead for a visit. In other words, it is important to be able to see any potential facility as it operates normally on an everyday basis. 

Once you visit a facility, you should then pay attention to signs of quality care, as well as signs that safety could be an issue.

Indicators of Quality Care in a Nursing Home

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Is malnutrition in an Orange County nursing home or assisted-living facility a result of nursing home neglect? The answer to this question is not always straightforward. Malnutrition can be difficult to identify, and in some cases, it can result from health issues that affect the resident. At the same time, malnutrition can be the result of elder abuse or neglect. Accordingly, it is important for anyone with a loved one in a nursing home or assisted living facility in California to understand the causes of malnutrition and common signs of malnutrition linked to elder abuse and neglect. An experienced Orange County nursing home neglect lawyer can provide you with more information, and we can speak with you today about taking action if an elderly loved one has experienced harmful malnutrition in a Southern California facility.

Learning More About Malnutrition

What is malnutrition? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malnutrition is a term that “refers to deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy or nutrients.” It can take different forms, including the form known as “undernutrition,” which tends to result in the most harm for elderly Americans. Undernutrition can involve wasting, being underweight, and having important micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies. While malnutrition can affect people worldwide of any age, it tends to have the most significant impact among older adults in the US. 

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At Southern California Nursing Home Law Group, we have years of experience handling a wide range of nursing home and assisted living neglect cases. We have seen the devastating effects that negligence can have on some of the most vulnerable members of society—those entrusted to nursing homes for care and safety.

While nursing home neglect can take many forms, there are five specific types of cases that we most commonly encounter. These include bed sore cases, falls with injuries, failure to take action after an obvious change in health condition, wandering away from the facility, and physical assault. Below is a breakdown of each type of case and the troubling signs associated with nursing home neglect.

  1. Bed Sore Cases
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Whether an older adult with a chronic health condition is residing in a skilled nursing facility, assisted-living facility, memory-care facility, or other location in Los Angeles County, studies have shown that these seniors tend to be more vulnerable to abuse and neglect. In particular, older adults with dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment are often targets of elder abuse in nursing homes and related facilities, and their conditions frequently prevent them from recognizing or reporting the abuse themselves. Yet, according to a recent article in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, a new study focused on the Comprehensive Older Adult and Caregiver Help (COACH) method might be able to reduce the likelihood of physical and emotional abuse. 

Could this method also be applicable to caregivers who are employed by nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in Southern California? Our Los Angeles County nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers can say more.  

Learning About the COACH Method

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Elder abuse and neglect in Orange County often result in severe and deadly resident injuries in nursing homes. Abuse can take many different forms, from intentional physical, emotional, or sexual abuse to passive neglect. To be clear, even when a staff member or other employee of a nursing home does not intend to cause harm, failing to attend to a resident’s health needs can result in serious harm for which the facility can be liable. Likewise, injuries resulting from intentional harm can also result in successful nursing home abuse and neglect claims against the facility, as well as the perpetrators. While studies underscore that nursing home abuse and neglect injuries occur with some frequency, they also highlight that abuse and neglect often go unreported.

To be sure, some studies suggest that the underreporting of nursing home abuse and neglect means that rates of harm are significantly higher than data currently indicate. Why is nursing home abuse and neglect underreported? There are many potential reasons that various studies have addressed, but a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Connecticut argues that fears of retaliation are central to understanding the problem. What do you need to know? Our Orange County nursing home negligence lawyers can say more.

Common Reasons for Abuse and Neglect Underreporting in Southern California Nursing Homes and Assisted-Living Facilities

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Nursing home abuse occurs frequently, but it can still be difficult to spot or identify if you do not know what to look for. Quite often, friends and family members of older adults in nursing homes are in the best position to spot injuries that may have resulted from abuse or neglect, so it is critical to know what you should be observing and reporting. Our Orange County nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys have tips. The following are the top ways to spot nursing home abuse in Orange County.

Learn About Different Forms of Abuse and Neglect

Nursing home abuse and neglect can take many different forms, so it is critical to understand the types of abuse that can occur. Those forms of abuse typically include physical abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, sexual abuse, willful deprivation, and passive neglect.

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Do nursing homes in San Bernardino County and elsewhere in Southern California have enough staff members to prevent resident injuries due to negligence? Nursing homes have a duty to provide residents with the specific types of care they need, and when a facility is understaffed and a resident suffers an injury as a result of the understaffing, the facility may be liable. According to a recent report in The New York Times, federal officials have proposed new rules for increasing the number of staff members at nursing homes throughout the country. How do the newly proposed standards compare with current requirements in California? And what should you do if you believe an elderly loved one at a nursing home suffered serious or deadly injuries due to neglect and understaffing?

Our San Bernardino County nursing home neglect lawyers are here to help, and we can tell you more.

Learning More About the Newly Proposed Federal Rules

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Do nursing homes in Los Angeles County have the capacity to provide appropriate care to residents with mental illnesses, or are facilities that house large populations of residents with mental illnesses more likely to be sites where injuries arise out of nursing home negligence? According to a recent KQED podcast, while nursing homes are typically thought of as spaces for older adults who need assistance with care due to physical incapacitation or cognitive impairment, “a new LAist investigation finds that thousands of people with serious mental illness are living in California’s nursing homes,” and it could potentially be a violation of federal law. In addition, nursing homes with high rates of residents with mental illness could put other residents at risk of abuse or could take necessary care time away from residents who need assistance with various activities of daily living (ADLs).

What should you know about mental illness and nursing home negligence in Southern California? Our Los Angeles nursing home neglect lawyers can tell you more. 

Nursing Homes Not Designed to Care for Residents With Serious Mental Illness

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When a senior in a Los Angeles County nursing home suffers an injury because of the facility’s negligence or because of an intentional act committed by a staff member, it may be possible to file a claim against the facility in order to seek compensation and to hold the facility accountable. Yet it can be difficult to know when a facility should be sued, especially since there are so many different types of injuries and harm that an older adult can experience. One type of harm that may not be discussed as often as physical abuse in nursing homes but that can cause serious psychological injuries is harm to a person’s dignity. What rights does a nursing home resident have in California concerning rights to dignity and the right to be free from psychological or emotional harm? Our Los Angeles County nursing home abuse attorneys can provide you with more information.

Harm to a Person’s Dignity Can Be a Form of Nursing Home Abuse

It is critical to know that nursing home abuse is a term that can refer to many different types of harm — not just physical abuse. Indeed, there are many kinds of elder abuse and neglect that can occur at nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Southern California. In some cases, a staff member at a nursing home might not even intend to cause harm but may be so busy or overwhelmed that they cannot fully perform the requirements of their job, which results in a nursing home resident suffering an injury. In other cases, various forms of intentional abuse, including physical abuse, psychological abuse, and willful deprivation, may result in harm to a person’s dignity.

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Nursing home neglect can take many different forms in San Diego County. In some cases, a senior in a nursing home or assisted living facility might be harmed as a result of willful deprivation, where a staff member refuses to provide the senior with the medications, medical devices, or care they need. Under most circumstances, however, nursing home neglect is not intentional. Rather, injuries arising out of neglect in Southern California result from issues like understaffing, lack of appropriate training for staff members, and ultimately, a failure for an elderly nursing home resident to receive the care they need without any intention by the facility to cause harm. Yet just because a nursing home or assisted living facility in San Diego County does not intend to cause injuries or any other type of harm does not mean that the facility cannot be held accountable.

Infections are one type of harm for which nursing homes and assisted living facilities in San Diego County can be liable if any infection results from negligence. Our San Diego County nursing home negligence attorneys can provide you with more information.

Nursing Homes Have a Duty to Prevent Infections

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