Deciding to find a nursing home facility in New Jersey for your family member can take lots of time and thought. Having staff who provide compassionate care is probably just one of the many requirements you have.
Unfortunately, not all facilities live up to the grand expectations they market. If you feel that your loved one is the victim of neglect, you may have serious concerns about how this mistreatment will impact quality of life and life expectancy.
Neglect causes trauma
Elder abuse can take on a variety of forms, some more noticeable than others. According to the Administration for Community Living, a staggering 10% of adult Americans over the age of 60 have experienced some type of abuse. Neglect is one manner of mistreatment that can have serious repercussions.
If your loved one has suffered neglect, that essentially means that staff members have deliberately ignored basic needs and proper care. Neglect replaces safety and security with fear and uncertainty. Your family member may struggle to make sense of the lack of care and begin to question his or her own sense of rationale. In serious cases, staff members may manipulate your loved one into believing that such a standard of care is quite normal and nothing of concern. As such, your family member may not disclose any concerns to you out of fear of retribution.
Neglect impacts awareness
A lack of necessary social interaction and humane care may impact your loved one’s awareness of the environment. You may notice your family member exhibiting signs of isolation, disinterest, confusion and avoidance. The less aware of the environment your loved one becomes, the more vulnerable he or she may become to ongoing abuse.
Without adequate care, your family member’s physical, emotional and psychological health may crumble. When a vibrant, loving and stable environment takes a backseat to one of isolation, ignorance and mistreatment, your loved one may lose the will to live which may result in a shorter life expectancy.
If your loved one suffers at the hands of a care facility that promised to provide adequate care, you may choose to take legal action. No one deserves inhumane treatment, especially when housed in a facility that promises to provide the expected standard of care.
