World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was June 15.
There is an epidemic of elder abuse and neglect in nursing homes and downright hatred of the elderly and disabled in the USA. Why is that?
For example, 50% of those without homes in the USA are seniors 50-80+
Elderly homelessness is on the rise, why is that?
I wrote about being without a home in my 60’s from my own experience.
Below are a few firsthand accounts of nursing home abuse and neglect in different states from California to Massachusetts.
What kind of country treats its senior citizens this way?
Why are we paying so much money for nursing homes and allowing them to abuse the elderly and disabled people who have nowhere else to be and are left there to die? Where are the outcries from family members or are they complicit? Many people, like myself, have had no family members and few support networks which is also how we end up in nursing homes and/or without homes.
Deadly Discrimination According to the ACLU
50% of those who have died from COVID19 have been in nursing homes, homeless shelters and congregate settings where elderly, disabled, and poor people are living in cramped quarters, sometimes unsanitary facilities and more.
Rachel Maddow reports on Nursing Homes
There are more than 1.7 million licensed beds in 15,600 nursing homes in the U.S.
69.8% of these nursing homes are for-profit businesses, with the goal of making money.
Nursing homes with the highest satisfaction ratings among families reported:
Higher numbers of nurses and qualified staff members
Smaller facilities with higher occupancy rates
Facilities not owned by for-profit companies or chains
Seniors neglected in nursing homes may be left sitting in their bed for days at a time, leading to extremely dangerous and uncomfortable bedsores.
Neglect can be just as harmful — or deadly — as nursing home abuse.
Important statistics about nursing home neglect include:
The U.S. Justice Department notes that caregiver neglect is the most unreported type of abuse, with 1 out of every 57 cases being reported. Neglect is also one of the most common types of elder abuse.
Neglect is the failure to provide an elder’s basic life necessities, such as food, housing, medicine or hygiene.
Women are more likely to be abused—in fact, 2 out of 3 elder abuse victims are women.
Researchers have also found a link between lower socioeconomic status and elder abuse.
All of these accounts are from BEFORE COVID19
It is thought that 1 in 10 elders over the age of 60 have been abused.
One study reported that as many as 24.3% of residents experienced at least one instance of physical abuse while in a nursing home.
The New York State Elder Abuse Prevalence Study suggests this number is even more severe, with only 1 in 25 cases of abuse reported.
It is estimated that these figures are low, as many elder abuse victims are unable or unwilling to report their abuse.
Elder abuse comes in many forms, including physical, emotional, sexual and financial, and it is not always obvious.
According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, 5% to 10% of self-reported elder abuses are physical, 60% are verbal and 14% are neglect.
According to the WHO, 64% of nursing home staff members admitted to abusing residents in 2017.
1 in 5 emergency room visits among nursing home residents was attributed to abuse or neglect in a 2019 report from the Office of Inspector General.
John
I know how it is. I was 17 when I first started working in them (3 different ones). The more aware I became, the more disgusted I got with the owners (and staff who DIDN'T speak up! That staff "gag" rule is a cover for negligence and banning "insider" reporting of the truth!
I worked in Massachusetts for three years. Being sued/getting bad inspection reports is probably the reason for the gagging the staff rule. Witnesses and evidence must be presented and w/HIPPA. No secret surveillance cameras are allowed in rooms unless with patient and family permission and financial reasons.
I then worked at a VA hospital for 30 years. It was really bad at first. It has improved somewhat, but I'd seen some really bad things I had to report that still haunt me..Made me sick that no one wanted to stand up with me when they all knew what was going on.
Jay
When the major hospital moved my partner to the care facility, they stripped him and the bed and left him laying there for six hours naked on plastic so he would be a quicker clean up before putting him in the ambulance. Often I would change my partners diaper and change the bedding and then they would insist their records showed they had done it.
My partner would often beg me to just let him die. So ill most of the time.
Molly
My daughter’s first job as an 18 year old Certified Nursing Assistant was in a well known facility. She lasted two weeks and came home crying every night over the horrible treatment she saw.
Sally
I used to go check on my Granny three times a day to visit and see that she was dry.
Donna
Last year I hospiced my mom in my home until she died from lymphoma and COPD. She spent weeks before that in a nursing home just wishing she would die every day.
My own personal account
Sleeping in my car in my 60’s before, during and after having breast cancer surgery, I became quite ill due to lack of sleep, poor nutrition, loss of privacy and dignity, NOWHERE TO BE SAFE and extreme stress. I have been middle class all of my life and had never been that poor. I had been through a lot of loss in my life and left an abusive living situation which left me without a home. I had been in the home for four years and could not take it anymore. I knew it would be hard but I’d always somehow landed on my feet. I knew that my monthly Social Security check was not enough to survive on but something would happen to prevent me from becoming a bag lady, right?
50% of women who end up without a home have been in similar desperate situations, fleeing domestic violence and abuse.
Sleeping in my car, my health deteriorated rapidly and I would end up in the hospital seeking relief from a variety of symptoms including dizziness, nausea, fainting, swollen legs, shortness of breath, ear ringing and chest pains. Although I have been through a lot of abuse in my life and relieved 98% of my symptoms of fibromyalgia years before, I felt very alone, abandoned and just plain terrible.
The hospitals would admit me and I’d stay a few days. They’d tell me that I had blood clots on my lungs more often than not. Then, they would administer various blood thinning drugs and diuretics for my swollen legs and discharge me. Where was I to go? They would arrange for me to go to a nursing home so that I could continue to have medical care including physical therapy.
The first nursing home I was sent to in Oxnard, California was so awful I only stayed there for two hours. The stench was overwhelming as I waited in the hallway for more than an hour. Finally, they put me in a tiny room with six other people. Each one of the patients had a lawn chair-like bed to sleep on. That was the entire space of the room we were given. The beds were separated by curtains on either side and there was a TV. Cramped like sardines. Then they came to me and told me I had to undress so that they could take photos of my scars, moles, warts, whatever. Extremely appalled, I left there immediately.
Cost of Nursing Homes
Who can afford to stay in these places?
The cost of nursing home care in Oxnard, California averages from about $4,950 per month up to $15,000. The average is about $8,040 per month, or about $97,638 yearly. Medicaid will pay the full cost of care minus the income of the individual receiving care. I receive about $8,000 per year, so that means the SNIF would receive $90,000 if I were stay for a year (long term care) or $7,340 per month. A pretty penny for such deplorable care.
A year or two later, I was sent to a SNIF (Skilled Nursing Facility) in Monterey, CA. My ears were ringing and I was very dizzy. I had been diagnosed with vertigo at one hospital but they did not really know what was wrong with me at CHOMP. They sent me to the SNIF via ambulance after my hospital stay with my ears still ringing and dizziness intact.
At the SNIF, I was left on a gurney in the hallway which was extremely noisy. I was screaming in pain and ignored for about.3 hours. Finally, they put me in a room that I had to share with one other patient. A woman was brought in and she was screaming because her nurse had taken off a boot she had on her leg after surgery and she was bleeding all over the place. I wanted to leave right there and then but was unable to do so on my own. I stayed a few days and received no doctor visit, no medicine, no physical therapy and given terrible food. Finally, I asked a dear friend to help me escape. She and her son got me out of there. There is a long ramp outside that I was unable to navigate on my own. I was gone from there at least three days when I received a phone message that they had called the police because they had just figured out that I was no longer there. I did a bit of research about the place and found out that they did not pass health inspections. Why is this place still open?
Next time, I almost had a good experience at a SNIF. Javier, the Administrator was wonderful. He actually cared about people and had my back on several occasions. I was able to stay there for a week or so receiving physical therapy, medicine and a doctor’s visit but had to leave due to my dog. My dog was supposed to be able to stay with me in my room but ended up having to stay in the car during a rare heat wave which was unacceptable. During the day, she stayed out on the patio with me but at night she had to sleep alone in the car. I had difficulty walking her and few would help me walk her. Finally, I left there in order to take better care of my dog.
Went back to the same place a year later and Javier was gone and the level of care had gone downhill. The first night I was put in a room with a nice woman but she screamed a lot all night. I could not sleep and asked for help and received none. I called the Inspector from the lobby numerous times and got no assistance. I stayed in the lobby until 3 in the morning when a kind nurse FINALLY settled me into another room temporarily. The next morning, another kind nurse told me that she would be my nurse in another room and the roommate there was very compatible and I would not have to share the bathroom with three other people. When you are taking diuretics and have to urinate a lot, it is difficult to share a bathroom with three other people. Stayed there for a week or so and then one day they told us we would have to be moved. They were going to renovate or repair the plumbing in the room. They had no other compatible roommates for me and I left after finding out that they had actually given our room to two men. I was also very worried about my dog who had been having some health issues. She was staying at a doggie boarding facility at that time.
The next places were worse and worser. I stayed at one overnight and the other for two hours. The one I stayed at overnight because my friend could not pick me up and get me out of there until then. When I arrived by ambulance the police were there. They have a lot of thievery going on there and my bed was broken. The other place I stayed at for two hours shoves 5-6 people into each tiny room. Been there, done that so I left.
The cost of nursing home care in Monterey, CA can range from about $237 per day to $411 per day. The average cost is approximately $300 per day, or about $109,500 yearly, about $10,000 more per year than in Oxnard.
What can you do about this?
Protect Your Own Parents/Grannies
Speak out.
Demand that your governor, mayor, senators and representatives, AARP, Agencies on Aging and other nonprofits actually do their jobs and protect senior citizens from abuse, neglect and homelessness.
Report elderly abuse and neglect to the proper authorities.
Write letters to the local newspapers and start petitions online.
Do fundraising and get seniors into affordable homes NOW. It does not require billions of dollars. Too many people are already profiting from the misery of others. And American taxpayers are paying three times MORE to keep people unhoused.
Social Security is not nearly enough money to live on. $600-1,200 a month when rents are $2,500-4,500 alone per month.
Be creative and innovative.
Adopt and House a senior TODAY.