What Role Do Caregivers Play in Reporting Elder Abuse in Chicago?

Caregivers — whether professionals or family members — are instrumental in reporting elder abuse. They’re required to be adept at identifying the subtle and overt warning signs of abuse and knowing the right channels for reporting it. Some professionals are mandated by state laws to report elder abuse cases, even if they only have suspicions of the abuse.

Call the Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys at DePaolo & Zadeikis at 312-263-7560 to learn whether your case qualifies for an elder abuse claim.

Who Can Be Considered a Caregiver?

A caregiver is any individual who provides physical and emotional care and support to another person who is unable to do so for himself or herself. Caregivers could have familial ties or many shared memories with the person, such as spouses, children, friends, and neighbors. Caregivers could also be professionals who’ve received elder care training, such as nursing home staff.

Caregivers assist with a variety of tasks and activities, such as:

• Personal care
• Household chores
• Managing finances
• Meal preparation and feeding
• Medication management
• Transportation

What Are the Signs of Elder Abuse?

Caring for seniors often involves teamwork between family and professional caregivers. With today’s fast-paced work forcing people to live apart from their elderly loved ones, reliance on professional caregivers in institutional settings like nursing homes has been increasing. Though professional caregivers handle most of the caregiving responsibilities, family members still play an important role in long-distance caregiving. That can be through researching a suitable nursing home for their loved ones, planning regular visits, monitoring their medical care and progress, and assisting with finances.

The relationship between seniors and caregivers is built on respect, understanding, and trust. Unfortunately, this relationship becomes corrupted when caregivers cause intentional or unintentional harm to seniors. This harm is considered elder abuse.

One of the most common reasons for abuse by caregivers is understaffing in nursing homes. Overburdened caregivers can experience stress or burnout and are more likely to abuse the people in their care. A report released in October 2021 said staffing shortages in nursing homes in Chicago and the rest of Illinois had reached crisis proportions.

When an elderly loved one has been abused in a nursing home, you can file a lawsuit against the abuser and the facility where the incident occurred. You’ll need to know who can file a nursing home abuse lawsuit. You’ll also need to confirm that your loved one has been abused before filing a lawsuit. Detecting abuse isn’t straightforward. It requires vigilance from family, friends, and professionals interacting with the person.

Here’s a closer look at the indicators of elder abuse.

Behavioral Signs

Closely watching an elderly loved one’s behavior can help you discover hidden problems your loved one may be experiencing. Unexpected behavioral changes often point toward elder abuse.

Be on the lookout for sudden withdrawal from family and social or favorite activities, rapid shifts in mental state, unusual depression, or excessive silence. Observe how your loved one reacts to nursing home staff. If your loved one is fearful or consistently upset around them, fears being alone, or if nursing home staff limits access to your loved one, your loved one could be a victim of abuse.

Physical Indicators

Some physical changes indicate elder abuse. Watch out for unexplained bruises, burns, cuts, marks, and other injuries. Marks and bruises around the ankles and wrists could signal inappropriate restraint use. Explanations for injuries caused by abuse are usually inconsistent or unreasonable. Your loved one may be reluctant to give a reason for the injuries. A noticeable pattern in the location and timing of your loved one’s injuries or a history of hospital visits for similar unexplained injuries may be a sign of repeated abuse. Unaddressed medical needs and frequent infections are also red flags.

Sudden weight loss could indicate depression, illness, or malnutrition. Nursing home employees could be failing to provide or purposely withholding food. Check for signs of a neglected physical appearance, such as odors, uncombed hair, dirty clothes, poor dental health, and the appearance of bedsores. Pelvic injuries, genital infections, sexually transmitted diseases, torn or stained undergarments, and fearing touch or physical closeness could be signs of sexual abuse.

You should also pay attention to the nursing home environment. Increased clutter, dirty rooms, damaged personal items, isolation of residents, poor relationships between residents and nursing home employees, and too few staff members on duty could signal a poorly run facility, which could impact your loved one’s well-being.

Financial Discrepancies

Monitor your loved one’s bills and financial transactions to detect financial exploitation. Watch out for large or unusual bank withdrawals or transfers, unpaid bills despite your loved one having adequate income, unexpected changes in the power of attorney and wills, and transfers of significant assets to a caregiver.

Reporting Elder Abuse in Illinois

Recognizing the signs of elder abuse is crucial. Reporting elder abuse after spotting these signs and seeking legal advice is equally important. In fact, Illinois law mandates professionals like medical professionals, law enforcement, social workers, education professionals, and adult care workers to report suspected elder abuse.

The senior’s safety should be your priority when reporting elder abuse. Call 911 if you think the individual is in urgent danger and requires immediate assistance. Thorough documentation of abuse incidents is also critical. Documentation allows you to provide adequate information when you call a helpline. It also helps nursing home abuse lawyers build a more compelling case. Information you can collect includes:

• Times, dates, and concise descriptions of the abuse incidents
• Name, sex, and age of the victim
• The people involved in the abuse
• Identifying information of others who know about the abuse
• Photographic evidence of signs of abuse

Several regulatory agencies and authorities accept reports of suspected abuse of elderly persons in Illinois.

Regional Ombudsman

You can contact the long-term care Ombudsman of the region where the long-term care facility is located for assistance. Ombudsmen help nursing home residents resolve their problems. When you contact the regional office, the Ombudsman will explain how to report abuse effectively, interpret report findings, appeal the findings, and access other services for elder abuse victims.

You can get the contacts to your local office from the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Public Contact List on the Illinois Department on Aging (IDoA) website, or by calling the IDoA Senior Helpline.

Adult Protective Services (APS)

You can report suspected abuse to the local APS Agency where the victim lives or the 24-hour APS hotline. The APS program accepts anonymous reports. The program’s records and reports are not disclosed unless the reporter provides written permission or a court order is issued.

Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH)

Illinois elder abuse laws address the question, “What are resident rights in a nursing home?” and provide extensive protections to nursing home residents. The IDPH is one of the agencies that regulate nursing homes in Illinois. When residents have their rights violated and suffer abuse, their family members and people mandated to report suspected abuse can make reports to the IDPH’s Nursing Home Hotline. You can also file a complaint electronically.

Illinois Healthcare and Family Services (HFS)

You can also report nursing home abuse by calling the HFS complaint hotline.

Illinois Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU)

The MFCU investigates and prosecutes cases of Medicaid fraud and abuse of residents in long-term care facilities. You can submit a complaint online through the Illinois Attorney General’s website.

Contact a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

When you notice signs of abuse, it’s important to start pursuing legal action. Prompt legal action helps preserve critical evidence and protects vulnerable seniors from additional harm. Case reviews by nursing home abuse attorneys also take time. You must also comply with the two-year statute of limitations for elder abuse cases. The sooner you contact an attorney, the sooner the attorney can start building your case.

A lawyer familiar with elder abuse cases in Chicago and throughout Illinois will help you report elder abuse confidentially and effectively and provide the informed guidance you need to pursue action against the responsible parties. Besides providing financial compensation for damages, suing the perpetrators helps prevent further abuse to your loved one and others.

A nursing home abuse lawyer will investigate your case, help you gather evidence like medical records, financial statements, and witness testimonies, and formally initiate your lawsuit. Your lawyer will answer questions you may have about the legal process, such as “How long does a nursing home lawsuit take?” Nursing home abuse lawyers resolve most cases through out-of-court settlements.

Combatting elder abuse and helping vulnerable adults regain their health, well-being, and dignity in Illinois starts with you when you detect and take action against suspected abuse. This goes a long way toward creating a society that respects and protects seniors. For help filing a nursing home abuse lawsuit in Chicago, contact us at DePaolo & Zadeikis for a free, confidential consultation.