Even if you check in on family members in nursing homes regularly and pay close attention to their living conditions, it can be easy to miss indications that your loved one is being mistreated. Given how often nursing home residents are unable—or sometimes even unwilling—to report neglect and abuse, it falls on you as their family member to know what to look for and what is worth taking legal action over.
Guidance from a seasoned nursing home abuse lawyer can be vital to understanding, identifying, and taking appropriate action over the warning signs of nursing home abuse in Denver. That said, several symptoms can help family members ensure their loves ones are receiving the proper care they deserve. To learn more, reach out to a representative at Roberts Markland LLP today.
Elderly individuals are often particularly susceptible to serious harm from being handled too roughly or even intentionally assaulted by nursing home staff members or other residents. For that reason, family members should follow up with staff members about any injury a resident sustains, from minor scratches and bruises to broken bones and soft-tissue injuries requiring hospitalization. In addition, a lack of sufficient explanation for the incident, repeated incidents over several weeks or months, or refusal to let residents be alone with family members could be concerning.
Even if the effects are not immediately visible, nursing home residents in Denver may respond to physical abuse by being abnormally withdrawn, not taking their medications, refusing to eat, and changing their personalities around particular staff members. Finally, while uncommon, sexual abuse in nursing homes can produce symptoms like genital infections and STDs, bruising around intimate areas, and bleeding in the groin.
Nursing home residents deserve high-quality living conditions, an expectation that includes physical safety and emotional support. Residents who go through sudden personality changes, display childlike behaviors like thumb-sucking or rocking, or exhibit anxiety or depression may be dealing with emotional or psychological abuse from a staff member or resident.
Even if the abuse is not intentional, depriving a nursing home resident of social opportunities and community interaction constitutes a violation of their rights and could produce many of the same effects as malicious mistreatment.
Financial exploitation of nursing home residents in Denver can be especially hard to detect, but just as vital to know how to spot and address it quickly when discovered. For example, any unexplained withdrawals from a resident’s bank accounts, changes to their estate planning documents, or unexpected purchases on debit or credit cards should be cause for further investigation.
In some situations, residents getting inappropriate dosages of medication, receiving duplicate bills for medical services, or living in a facility with far too few staff members could even be signs of large-scale healthcare fraud.
No one fully dependent on another person’s care should be abused or neglected by their caregiver in any way, especially when that caregiver is paid to provide high-quality services. If you see any warning signs of nursing home abuse in Denver, it may be incumbent on you as a resident’s family member to take legal action on their behalf.
A skilled nursing home abuse lawyer could provide custom-tailored support throughout every step of your potential case. Call Roberts Markland LLP today for a consultation.
