Most people who have loved ones in California nursing homes simply cannot be there to help them 24 hours a day. People with aging parents want the best for them, but it is just too much to ask of a person to have a career, raise children, and also look after their elderly parents all at the same time. Seniors who cannot take care of themselves may wind up in assisted living facilities or may have an in-home nurse or care specialist come to their houses several times a week, which can be a huge relief to their families. But what happens when the person who is supposed to keep an elderly patient from harm isn’t doing his or her job adequately. Or worse, what if that person is actually doing the patient harm?
Unfortunately, there are thousands of nursing home abuse claims in California each year, and very few of them get the attention they deserve. The result is a severe lack of oversight and regulation in the home health care and nursing home field, leaving tens of thousands of California senior citizens at risk of injury, illness or worse at the hands of a caregiver.
Nursing home care can be expensive, but even the most expensive facilities and caregivers can be perpetrators of elder abuse or neglect. The bottom line is that without 24 hour supervision or surveillance, there is no guarantee that your loved ones are getting treated the way they deserve. Of course, 24 hour supervision is simply not possible, so families need to be on the lookout for telltale signs of elder abuse, including financial misconduct.
Experienced elder law attorneys are dedicated to stomping out the scourge of elder abuse in all of its forms, which is why they are willing to go to bat for victims and their families. By holding perpetrators of elder abuse or nursing home neglect accountable, they can help victims and their families get the relief they need. By stopping elder abuse today, hopefully it will become a thing of the past in future generations.
