Types of Elderly Abuse
There are many different types of elder abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, neglect, and financial or material exploitation.
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse involves any use of force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain, or impairment. Physical abuse may include acts of violence such as striking, beating, pushing, shaking, pinching, and burning. The inappropriate use of physical restraints, drugs, and force-feeding techniques also constitutes physical abuse. Some signs and symptoms of physical abuse include: bruises, black eyes, welts, lacerations, broken bones, sprains, dislocations, internal injuries, signs of being restrained, improper use of medication, and an elder's sudden change in behavior.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse is defined as non-consensual sexual contact of any kind; it also includes sexual contact with any person unable to give consent. Sexual abuse includes unwanted touching, rape, sodomy, coerced nudity, and unwanted sexually explicit photographing. The signs and symptoms of nursing home sexual abuse are bruises in the genital area, unexplained sexual diseases or infections, unexplained vaginal or anal bleeding, and torn or bloody underclothing.
Emotional Abuse
Emotional or psychological abuse involves the infliction of mental anguish, pain, or distress. This abuse may include verbal assaults, insults, threats, intimidation, humiliation, and harassment. Nonverbal acts such as using isolation to punish patients can also constitute emotional/psychological abuse. Some of the signs of this type of nursing home abuse are: emotional distress or agitation, unresponsiveness, and unusual or demented behavior.
Neglect
Neglect is defined as the refusal or failure of the nursing home to fulfill any part of its obligations or duties to a patient. Nursing home neglect frequently involves the failure of caretakers to provide life necessities such as food, water, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene, medicine, comfort, or personal safety. Signs and symptoms of neglect include malnutrition, dehydration, bedsores, poor personal hygiene, untreated health problems, and unsafe or unsanitary living conditions.
Financial Exploitation
Financial or material exploitation involves the illegal or improper use of an elder's funds, property, or assets. This can include cashing patients' checks without permission, forging signatures, stealing money or possessions, coercing or deceiving a patient to sign official documents, and the improper use of any position of fiduciary responsibility. Some possible signs of financial or material exploitation are sudden changes in banking practices, unexplained withdrawals of large sums of money, names of caretakers being added to accounts, sudden changes to wills, missing funds or possessions, discovery of forged signatures, or other unexplained financial changes.
Consult an Elderly Abuse Attorney
The signs and symptoms listed above are given as examples, and there may be other indicators that are not listed. Perhaps the most important sign of all is when a nursing home resident reports any of the kinds of abuse listed above. At that time it is important to contact a nursing home or elder abuse lawyer for legal assistance.