Many of us have heard about assisted living facility reforms pending before the California legislature, as well as those aimed specifically at residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs). But are those reforms sufficient to ensure that California seniors are safe from elder abuse? According to a recent story from KQED’s State of…
A Booming Hospice Industry in America Did you know that about half of all Medicare patients who die “will do so as a hospice patient”? According to a recent article in the Huffington Post, just ten years ago only about 25 percent of all Medicare patients died in hospice care.…
Global and Local Awareness About Aging and Elder Abuse Earlier this month, San Diego County’s Aging Summit, which focused on Alzheimer’s disease and caregiving issues, occurred just as the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) and the Administration on Aging launched the eighth “World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.” The two…
With California making national news over elder abuse at nursing homes and residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs), it may not come as a surprise that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has reassigned Ernest Poolean, the “supervisor in charge of nursing home inspections,” only a few days…
Over the past several months, Southern California has been in the elder law spotlight. With news of rampant nursing home abuse throughout the state and a PBS frontline special, California legislators have been looking to more closely regulate residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) in our state. During the second week…
Last week, we told you about a recent study conducted by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The report focused on skilled nursing facilities and found that about one-third of all nursing home patients suffer injuries, and more than half were preventable. The…
Profiting from Bad Hospice Ethics Last week, we discussed a recent phenomenon in the hospice care industry that’s quickly becoming an elder abuse concern. Specifically, hospice—a form of care designed to allow “patients to die at home or in other familiar surroundings,” according to an article in the Washington Post—has…
About a month ago, the New York Daily News reported that fourteen nursing home residents at Valley Manor Community Care Home, also called Valley Springs Manor, were abandoned in “filthy and unsafe” conditions. According to the article, some of the residents at this Castro Valley, California facility were bedridden, while…
Sometimes we forget that nursing home abuse isn’t always physical, and it may not be obvious. Particularly with older adults, abuse can be verbal, and it can wound seniors both emotionally and psychologically. A recent study conducted by researchers at Northeastern University emphasized that older adults typically aren’t openly willing…
In recent weeks, news agencies have reported on financial elder abuse and related laws and settlements in California. In connection with some of the elements of financial elder abuse discussed in prior cases, the Los Angeles Times recently reported that an insurance agent carried out serious financial crimes against his…