StopPatientAbuse.com
Stop Patient Abuse
The decision to seek medical care for oneself or a loved one in a healthcare facility is not always easy. When seeking such care, an individual needs to be confident that the staff will have their best interests at heart. Healthcare facilities should be safe and comfortable with optimal care. Unfortunately, many patients are subjected to abuse in these facilities. Vulnerable people who are physically, emotionally, or psychologically frail get the worst of this abuse. This puts the young, elderly, mentally incapacitated, or dependent people at the highest risk of abuse.
Patient Abuse
This includes physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, and neglect perpetrated by healthcare professionals and caregivers in various healthcare settings.
Elder Abuse
This is defined as an act or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where there should be trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person. Elder abuse occurs in many facilities, including Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, Long-term acute care facilities, Hospitals, and Rehabilitation centers.
Categories of Elder Abuse
Elder abuse can be categorized according to:
- Type of abuse: Reported types include: physical abuse, psychological/emotional abuse, resident-to-resident abuse, gross neglect, sexual abuse, and financial exploitation.
- Type of abuser: family members, informal and formal caregiver, or acquaintance
- Setting in which it occurs: community or institution. Within institutional settings, abuse can be categorized into resident-to-resident abuse or staff-to-resident abuse.
Prevalence of Abuse
Elder abuse is fast becoming an epidemic in the United States. A recent study found that:
- Nearly 1 in 3 nursing homes had the potential to lead to severe harm, and 1 in 10 actually caused residents serious injury.
- 44% of nursing home residents reported being abused, and 95% said that they had been neglected or witnessed neglect against other residents.
- Over 50% of nursing home staff admitted to physical violence, neglect, and emotional abuse against residents.
About 10% of the elderly in the United States experience abuse, but the figures for patients with dementia have been reported to be as high as 47.3%. Each year, the National Ombudsman Reporting Service receives more than 10,000 complaints of abuse in nursing homes. Elder abuse is underreported and a study estimated only 1 in 14 cases of abuse is reported to the appropriate authorities. This under-reporting is often due to victims’ ignorance, inability to communicate their abuse or fear of retaliation.
In the past few years, federal legislation designed to protect older Americans has passed or been proposed.
Effect of Elder Abuse
The pandemic has exacerbated some of the risk factors for elder abuse for both victims and perpetrators. The stay-at-home orders/recommendations intended to protect older people from COVID-19 have created additional risks for elder abuse. Even in the best of times, elder abuse cases are rarely detected. This worsens the shoddy reporting that was happening before the pandemic.
In the COVID pandemic, older people and their caregivers may be especially vulnerable to risk factors for abuse, including isolation, anxiety, financial stress, difficulty accessing healthcare and supplies, and increased co-dependency due to changing living conditions. Older adults are now more likely to be isolated and out of sight, making potential abuse harder to detect. Existing abusive relationships may become more severe or lethal as mood disorders and substance abuse increase among caregivers.
The pandemic does offer opportunities for positive change. Providers who can contact older patients via technology can now observe patients in their homes and provide support for caregivers they may not typically see during in-person visits.
Patients’ Risk factors
The main risk factors associated with abuse are reported as:
- Female gender
- Shared living situations
- Presence of cognitive impairment and disability
- Age above 60 years`
- Social isolation and mental impairment: Recent studies show that nearly half of those with dementia experienced abuse or neglect
Caregiver risk factors
- Staff shortages leading to higher ratios of patients to registered nurses correlated to higher levels of abuse
- Time pressure and emotional exhaustion
- Under qualification: increased number of qualified nurses in a facility correlates with a lower risk of patient abuse.
- Financial problems
- Substance use and mental health problems
Signs of Patient Abuse
- Physical abuse: bruises, pressure marks, broken bones, abrasions, burns, and non-reaction to pain.
- Emotional abuse: Unexplained withdrawal from normal activities, a sudden change in alertness, unusual depression, and strained relationships.
- Financial abuse: Sudden changes in financial situations
- Neglect: unhealing bedsores, unattended medical needs, poor hygiene, unusual weight loss/gain, torn or dirty clothes
- Verbal or emotional abuse: belittling or threats
Effect of COVID on Abuse
Abused elders have a 300% higher risk of death than those who have not been abused. Estimates of financial abuse to older Americans range from $2.9 billion to $36.5 billion annually.
Preventing Patient Abuse
The primary steps in eliminating patient abuse in hospital/home culture are opening communication, providing education, establishing competency, eliminating tolerance of unacceptable behavior, and creating a code of mutual respect. Some other ways of preventing abuse include:
- Frequent checking in with the elderly
- Encourage social interactions through community involvement. A study found that lack of social support increased the likelihood of all forms of abuse and vice versa.
- Encourage physical activities because patients with poor physical health are more likely to be taken advantage of.
- Avoid caregivers with a history of abuse or violence.
- Be cautious of caregivers that need financial help.
Older adults can stay safe by:
- Taking care of their health
- Seeking professional help for drug, alcohol, and depression concerns and urging family members to get help for these problems.
- Attending support groups for spouses and learning about domestic violence services.
- Planning for the future by having a living will to address health care decisions to avoid confusion and family problems later.
- Staying active in the community and connected with friends and family.
- Using direct deposit for all checks.
- Knowing their rights and demand that they be met.
Handling patient abuse
Despite attempts to minimize the risk of abuse and preventing it, patient/elderly abuse still happens. When this occurs, there are ways to handle such a situation(s).
Whenever you suspect abuse that can cause the patient harm.
Make a Patient and Hospital Abuse Claim
Hospitals, nursing homes, or other facilities have a legal duty to provide proper physical and medical care for their patients. Patients can pursue abuse claims whenever they experience a clear breach of this. While no amount of compensation can ever make up for the trauma experienced in abuse, the claim can help with:
- Access to therapy and required medications
- Achieving closure
- Taking back some control of their emotions and life.
