What Are the Long-Term Effects of Nursing Home Abuse on Elderly Residents in Chicago?
The long-term effects of nursing home abuse include a drastic decline in a resident’s mental and physical health, strained relationships, financial distress, and even premature death. Nursing home abuse can have adverse effects on the victims, their families, and society as a whole. Understanding more about the far-reaching consequences of nursing home abuse is critical in comprehending the magnitude of the issue and prompting people to take action to combat and prevent it and its effects.
If you suspect your loved one has suffered abuse in a nursing home, contact the Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys at DePaolo & Zadeikis by calling 312-263-7560 for a free consultation about your case.
What Are the Most Common Types of Nursing Home Abuse in Chicago?
Nursing home abuse has become a serious problem in Illinois. In a Department of Health & Human Services report released in 2017, Illinois had the highest number of abuse incidents.
Unfortunately, despite families expecting Illinois nursing homes to provide a safe living environment for their elderly loved ones, nursing home abuse lawyers still see abuse cases occurring. Unsurprisingly, Illinois ranked 40th in the country in nursing home quality and safety and 44th in nursing home quality ratings in the AARP Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) 2023 State Scorecard Report. The state ranked 48th in nursing home staffing levels. Understaffing is commonly associated with nursing home abuse, as is usually the case with refusal of care and nursing home neglect.
Nursing home abuse occurs in several forms in Chicago. The most common types include:
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse occurs when residents in nursing or residential care facilities experience bodily harm resulting from the intentional use of force. Examples include slapping, kicking, punching, pushing, and restraining a resident. Common signs of physical abuse include bruises, scrapes, cuts, burns, and fractures.
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse refers to verbal and nonverbal actions that intentionally inflict pain, anguish, or distress in nursing home residents. It includes threatening, insulting, yelling, isolating from family and friends, and hiding a senior’s assistive devices. Common signs of emotional abuse include self-neglect, withdrawn behavior, changes in eating or sleeping patterns, low self-esteem, and avoidance of eye contact with a particular caregiver.
Neglect
Neglect refers to the failure to provide a resident with necessities, such as food, water, protection, medical care, and personal hygiene. Warning signs of neglect include unsanitary living conditions, fall-related injuries due to lack of adequate supervision, weight loss, dehydration, and poor personal hygiene.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse refers to non-consensual sexual activity. It includes unwanted or forced intimate touching, forced nudity, rape, forced observation of sexual acts or pornography, and taking explicit photos or videos. Common signs include sexually transmitted infections, bruises around the inner thighs, breasts, or genitals, bleeding from the genitals or anus, torn, stained, or bloodied underwear, difficulty sitting or walking, and withdrawn behavior.
Financial Abuse
Financial abuse occurs when an elderly resident’s money or other things of value are misused, concealed, or illegally taken. It can include fraud, stealing a resident’s valuables, using the senior’s cash or credit cards, and forging financial documents. Signs you should watch out for include unpaid bills, missing cash or items, unexplained money withdrawals, and changes to a resident’s legal or financial documents.
Long-Term Impacts of Nursing Home Abuse
The impact of nursing home abuse extends beyond the immediate physical and emotional scars it leaves on victims following the abuse incident. The physical, emotional, and financial effects of abuse can be felt several months or years after the individual incidents.
Serious Mental Health Problems
Nursing home abuse affects elderly residents’ psychological well-being and could lead to permanent or long-term mental health challenges. Victims often experience psychological effects like agitation, sleeping and eating problems, and changes in personality, mood, or behavior. Over time, immense trauma from abuse can cause nursing home residents to develop full-fledged post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with symptoms like:
- Debilitating flashbacks
- Nightmares
- Fear
- Paranoia
- Sweating
- Nausea
Abused residents could experience an increased sense of helplessness that could lead to long-term depression. Feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, and depression could trigger suicidal thoughts. A growing body of research has found suicidal behavior to be prevalent among elderly patients in long-term care facilities.
Drastic Physical Health Decline
Physical and cognitive decline are considered normal signs of aging and signs of nursing home neglect. Neglect and other forms of nursing home abuse can speed up health decline in older adults, drastically worsening pre-existing health conditions or causing increased vulnerability to new infections and illnesses.
Older adults tend to be more fragile and heal slower than other age groups. As a result, physical injuries from neglect and physical abuse can be highly detrimental to the health of elderly nursing home residents in the long term. Pain and soreness could linger for months or years. The injuries could exacerbate existing health conditions. Severe injuries could turn into a long-term disability.
Eating and sleeping disorders caused by abuse could worsen a resident’s physical health over time. These and other disorders resulting from abuse can weaken a resident’s immune system. Anxiety, depression, and other psychological effects could lead to self-neglect and treatment refusal or non-compliance. These changes could result in the development of new health problems.
According to the Administration for Community Living, survivors of elder abuse have higher hospitalization rates, showing the toll that abuse takes on the overall health of older adults.
Higher Risk of Premature Death
The psychological distress, exacerbated pre-existing health conditions, increased vulnerability to new illnesses, and faster decline in overall health that victims of nursing home abuse experience could lead to an increased risk of premature death. A worrying statistic reveals that elderly victims of abuse are thrice more likely to die prematurely than seniors who haven’t been abused.
Strained Relationships
Nursing home abuse can cause social isolation. Emotional trauma, shame, fear, or lack of trust that abused seniors may suffer from can cause them to withdraw from social interactions. The change in attitude and communication breakdown can fracture relationships in the long term if the abuse doesn’t come to light.
Financial Hardship
Elderly abuse in nursing homes also has long-term financial effects. Victims often require additional medical care, rehabilitation, and therapy to address the resulting physical and emotional impact of abuse. These unexpected medical expenses could make a big dent in an elder’s finances. The costs could also fall on the victim’s family. The treatment cost for injuries caused by elder abuse is estimated to be $5.3 billion each year. Family members could be forced to support the victims in care settings, causing them to give up their own incomes and careers.
Financial abuse could lead to depletion of a senior victim’s financial resources, leaving victims unable to support themselves. One report estimated that senior citizens lose $36.5 billion annually to financial abuse.
Legal Implications for Nursing Home Abuse in Illinois
The operation of nursing homes in Illinois is governed by state and federal laws. The laws are designed to ensure the safety and well-being of residents. When a resident’s rights are violated, there could be legal consequences under state law. So, what are resident rights in Illinois?
The Illinois Nursing Home Care Act grants residents a number of rights. Under it, residents have a right to live free of neglect and abuse. Other key rights include the right to:
- Personal property
- Privacy
- Unimpeded communication
- Manage their personal finances
- Retain their own doctor
- Be informed about the medical treatment and medication administered
Nursing home abuse violates a resident’s rights. The facility could face legal repercussions like fines and revocation or suspension of licenses. Abuse could also lead to criminal prosecution.
Nursing home abuse victims or their representatives can also file a lawsuit against the facility. They can recover compensation for damages like medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other losses. Your Chicago nursing home abuse attorney will initially attempt to resolve your case by filing a claim and negotiating with the insurance companies of the liable parties.
If nursing home abuse leads to your loved one’s death, you can file a claim under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act. You could recover compensation for funeral costs, emotional distress, loss of companionship, and other losses. Under the Illinois Survival Act, a lawsuit can be filed to recover compensation for the losses the victim experienced before he or she died.
At DePaolo & Zadeikis, we’re committed to supporting nursing home abuse victims and their families in Chicago and throughout Illinois in their pursuit of justice and ensuring their rights are protected and abusive nursing homes and caregivers are held fully accountable. Contact us today so we can discuss your case and how our nursing home abuse lawyers can help.
