DO YOU SUSPECT ABUSE OR NEGLECT? Contact Us for a Free Consultation

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Collaboration on Dementia Awareness and Abuse

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Do you have a parent who currently suffers from Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia?  These degenerative brain diseases are difficult not only on patients, but also on their family members and caregivers.  In response to elder abuse advocates’ concerns about educating and empowering family members of those with dementia, a number of organizations have teamed up to provide a series of “webinars” this summer.

According to a recent press release from the Administration for Community Living (ACL), the ACL will join the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institute on Aging (NIA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in hosting a series of three webinars in July, August, and September.  The organizations have collaborated in order to “increase knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia,” as well as to provide “resources that professionals in the public health, aging services, and research networks can use to inform, educate, and empower community members.”  More education about the risks associated with dementia care can help family members and caregivers to quickly spot and report signs of elder abuse.

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Global and Local Awareness About Aging and Elder Abuse

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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 projects represent both global and local initiatives to educate family members, caregivers, and the public generally about important issues that older adults face today, as well as the prevalence and risk factors for elder abuse.

Nursing home abuse and neglect is an important issue in California, particularly as we await potential changes to the law surrounding residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs).  At the same time, however, elder abuse is a nationwide—and indeed, a worldwide—concern that affects us all.  If you have questions about how you can help an older adult who has sustained injuries because of elder abuse, don’t hesitate to speak to an experienced San Diego elder justice advocate.

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A recent article in Reuters reported that the mayor of Los Angeles has declared his support for “a new state law barring public agencies from refusing job applications from people convicted of a crime.”  But could such a law place residents in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities at greater risk of nursing home abuse and neglect?

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No Outright Criminal Background Checks for Employees?

The California law isn’t intended to put California residents at risk, but rather to encourage social rehabilitation.  According to Reuters, Garcetti’s support of the law comes with a deep concern “that millions of people who have been to prison, particularly from minority communities, have little prospect of landing a job once they admit to a conviction.”  The law isn’t just for nursing homes or other care facilities for older adults.  Rather, it’s part of a larger movement to make criminal background checks less of a priority at the start of an interviewing process at many public agencies across the state of California.

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We often think about staff members and other employees at nursing homes and assisted living facilities when we worry about whether our elderly loved ones are receiving proper care.  However, spouses, children, and other close relatives of older adults can commit elder abuse, too.  Indeed, anyone can commit elder abuse.  And a recent article from NBC San Diego reports that a woman from La Jolla, Victoria Turner, who has already been accused of abusing her now-estranged husband, attempted to make her way into a care facility in order to force him to sign legal documents.

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Details of the La Jolla Elder Abuse

Back in March, Robert Stella was “rescued from the garbage and filth in his own home,” where Turner was supposed to be caring for him, according to NBC San Diego.  Stella recently turned 91 years old.  In addition to allowing Stella to reside in a home that was “cluttered and filthy,” Turner has also been accused of tying him to his bed.  Turner is almost 40 years younger than Stella, and she’s currently under investigation for elder abuse, as well as animal neglect and cruelty.

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Does the number of staff relate to the level of care in nursing homes and assisted living facilities?  According to a recent article in McKnight’sLong Term Care News Online, a new study suggests that staffing levels at nursing homes do in fact “correlate with better quality of care.”  But what does this mean, exactly?  Does simply hiring more staff mean that nursing home residents will be less likely to suffer from nursing home neglect, or should nursing homes invest in specific types of staff members with particular skill sets?

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The study, which appeared late last month in Health Economics, suggests that mandatory staffing regulations often result in caregivers with less skill—in short, fewer registered nurses.  And registered nurses could be precisely what many nursing home residents need in order to obtain necessary care.  If your elderly loved one has sustained injuries as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect, you should talk with an experienced San Diego nursing home abuse lawyer as soon as possible.  A dedicated elder justice advocate at the Walton Law Firm would be happy to discuss your case with you today.

Details of the Study

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California Seniors and Fraudulent Telephone Calls

Older adults are becoming especially susceptible to elder financial abuse, and a recent article in the San Mateo Daily Journal suggests that police have noticed a “rise in fraudulent telephone scams that target seniors.”  Elder abuse can take many different forms, and scammers often prey upon older adults who aren’t familiar with new financial technologies and have money saved.  And this form of abuse can occur anywhere—at the home of a caregiver or at a nursing home.  For example, we recently wrote about a financial abuse scheme at a Palo Alto care community for the elderly.

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What have some of the recent scams looked like?  According to the San Francisco police, there’s a new telephone scam in California in which an older adult receives a phone call from a person who claims to be a paralegal who is calling from the Attorney general’s office.  The caller then tells the elderly victim that there’s “a warrant for her arrest” and that she’ll need to “pay a fee by using a Vanilla prepaid cash card, or risk being sent to jail.”  When the scam first was reported by a woman in South San Francisco, the victim described the caller as having a “Russian accident.”

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When nursing home neglect happens, elderly patients can sustain serious and life-threatening injuries.  But a recent article in the New York Times suggests that care facilities may need to pay particular attention to residents who take high blood pressure medication.  What’s going on with blood pressure medication?  In short, patients who take these drugs might be much more likely to suffer injuries in a dangerous fall.  And, according to the article, “more than 70 percent of those over age 70 contend with high blood pressure.”

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Has your elderly loved one sustained injuries in a fall?  Nursing homes and assisted living facilities have a duty to keep residents safe, and many advocates in California currently are working to make RCFEs safer places for residents.  Don’t hesitate to discuss your case with an experienced San Diego nursing home abuse lawyer.  At the Walton Law Firm, we are dedicated to helping victims of elder abuse, and we can answer your questions today.

New Study: Link Between High Blood Pressure and Serious Fall Injuries

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Senate Bill Could Impose Tougher Penalties

With the serious elder abuse problems in residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) that have been coming to light in recent months, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to California residents that a new senate bill aims to “give California regulators the power to impose tougher penalties,” according to an article in Westport News.

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What is this legislation?  The bill, SB1153, would provide the California Department of Social Services (DSS) greater authority over care facilities that break the law.  According to another article in the San FranciscoChronicle, the bill would allow the California DSS to “ban new admissions to residential care facilities for the elderly that fail to correct serious health and safety violations.”  And when RCFEs fail to pay their fines, the SB1153 would allow regulators with DSS to “block admissions to facilities.”

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We live in an age of technology, yet the elder care industry doesn’t seem to have taken notice.  According to a recent article in Forbes, the internet and other digital tools may be able to improve the quality of elder care, and to attend to matters of elder abuse and neglect across the country.  We mentioned a recent story about elder financial abuse and online mapping.  This is only one of the tools that may help our older loved ones in the years to come.

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Taking care of our elderly loved ones will be especially important in the coming years as the large number of Americans who make up the baby boomer generation grow old and require care in assisted living facilities and nursing homes.  While none of us likes to believe that nursing home neglect is a problem that can affect our loved ones, recent news stories throughout California suggest that elder abuse is a problem that afflicts many people.  As a result, it’s important to contact a nursing home abuse attorney if you suspect that your elderly loved one has been the victim of nursing home neglect.

High Costs of Elder Care

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Helping Caregivers to Help the Elderly through Education

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How can caregivers best spot patterns of elder abuse after their loved ones return from medical appointments or adult daycare?  And how should caregivers handle older adults who act abusively toward medical staff or other persons involved in their care and treatment?  According to a recent news report from Aging Today, a bimonthly newspaper published by the American Society on Aging, elderly caregivers in America aren’t provided with sufficient education about elder abuse.

The news report recently made it into the hands of Californians with the help of the Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse & Neglect.  The Center, housed at the University of California, Irvine, seeks to bridge the academic side of elder neglect with important issues of medical and legal practice.  In addition to conducting research, the Center aims to provide education to California residents and other community members by hosting the Elder Abuse Training Institute, which “identifies the most pressing training needs in elder mistreatment.”  The educational programs are interdisciplinary, moving among medical, sociological, and legal issues.

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