Whether your elderly parent is being cared for at home, in another loved one’s home, or in a facility such as a nursing home or assisted living facility, you need to know how to recognize the signs of abuse. Elder abuse is a terrible crime and it can be perpetrated by spouses, children, and other family members as well as professional caregivers in the home, nursing home staff, and others who have regular access to your mother or father. As awful as it is, elder abuse is not always intentional, but that does not make it any less harmful or dangerous.
Recognizing the Signs of Abuse
The signs of elder abuse often go overlooked because they can appear to be normal signs of aging and declining mental or physical health, especially in dementia patients. If you see the signs of abuse you need to take action right away. I could save your parent’s life.
Signs of elder abuse include:
- Physical signs such as bruises, burns, broken bones, rope marks on the wrists
- Untreated bedsores
- Unusual weight loss
- Personality changes
- Paranoid or guarded behavior
- Withdrawing from social contact or other normal activities
- Changing to a poor outlook on life
- Dirty clothes or bedding
- Poor hygiene or grooming
- Secrecy or lying
- Behaviors suck as rocking, mumbling, and thumb sucking
- Fear or strange behavior around a specific person
- Sudden changes in finances, such as large bank withdrawals
- Changes to the will
- Missing property
- Falls
- Medication overdose
Learn more about nursing home abuse and neglect, or contact one of the attorneys in this directory to see if you have a valid nursing home abuse claim.
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