3 Wheeler World

Senior Power: This Will Be on the Final ...

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is being observed today, Wednesday, June 15, 2011. This week’s Senior Power column is the second of two devoted to this subject. Possibly, by the time you read it, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day will have come and gone without great notice. 

Are you aware of any visible or audible action fostering elder abuse awareness on the part of commissions on aging, senior center advisory bodies, communities’ senior services departments, area agencies on aging, city councils, academic gerontologists, sectarian and religious affiliations groups, junior leagues, NOW and OWL, Gray Panthers, AARP? Was there a proclamation (an official public announcement) by any of these or other groups? 

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Nursing homes are potential loci of abuse of old people. A nursing home is a residential facility for persons with chronic illness or disability, particularly older people who have mobility and eating problems. It may be called a convalescent home or long-term care facility. A nursing home has been defined as a facility with 3+ beds that is licensed by the state and usually certified for federal reimbursement as a Medicaid (in California known as Med-I-Cal) and/or skilled Medicare nursing facility. Some other types of residential care facilities are: board-and-care homes, group homes, homes for the aged, adult foster care, assisted living facilities, adult congregate living. 

Nursing home employees are typical offenders, as well as family members (when family exists,) and so-called caregivers. Let’s not play guessing games-- the following statements about nursing homes are all true : Most people in the nursing home population, i.e. patients and workforce, are women. Many of the patients in nursing homes suffer from dementia. The older you become, the more likely you are to reside in a nursing home. No uniform data on the prevalence of abuse in nursing homes exist. Abuse of patients in nursing homes often goes unreported. 

And, all of the following statements about nursing homes are false : The cost of living in a nursing home is covered by Medicare. Highly trained nurses provide most, but not all, of the care in nursing homes. Most nursing homes are nonprofit organizations. No one except their families is looking out for the interests of nursing home patients. Most nursing home patients are single or never married. The state with the largest number of nursing homes is Florida. Most long-term care is provided by nursing homes.