Personal Injury Attorneys for Elder Abuse Cases
Welcome to part one of a three-part blog series on the topic of elder abuse or “nursing home abuse,” as it is often referred to. Elder abuse is a tragic reality. It is perhaps an uncomfortable topic, but one that needs to be addressed.
Unfortunately, we live in a society that often takes advantage of the elderly. This abuse can take on many different forms. Part one of this series from the personal injury attorneys for elder abuse cases at Kuhlman & Lucas, LLC focuses on clarifying and defining the various types of elder abuse.
The major types of nursing home/elder abuse can be broken down into three categories: 1) Physical Abuse, 2) Emotional Abuse, and 3) Financial Abuse.
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse of the elderly is one of the easiest types of abuse and/or neglect to detect. Physical abuse can take on many different forms, such as:
- Striking out of anger, frustration or malicious intent
- Sexual abuse
- Neglect that leads to physical harms such as bed sores
Elder care facilities such as nursing homes often are not held to as strict of standards as hospitals and other healthcare facilities. With less regulation comes more room for abusive employees and lax standards of care.
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse, sometimes referred to as psychological abuse, can take the form of verbal threatening, using an unnecessarily harsh tone, mocking and even isolating the elderly by refusing to talk to them or interact with them at all. Although emotionally abusing practices will not leave physical bruises, lacerations and scars, emotional abuse can be detected by noticing a marked change in the elderly person’s disposition.
Financial Abuse
Due to their advanced age which is usually accompanied with a decreased mental acuteness, people often take advantage of the elderly financially. Scammers and fraudsters often prey on the elderly because they see them as an easy target. Financial abuse can be just as dangerous, although not physically harmful, to the elderly person and their family.
Trust the experienced personal injury attorneys for elder abuse cases at Kuhlman & Lucas, LLC
If you have an elderly loved one who is currently in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or is being cared for at home by a caretaker, it is vital that you become familiar with the different types of elder abuse so that you can better identify it if it happens to someone you love. In our next blog of this series, we will discuss at length what the signs of elder abuse are. The personal injury attorneys for elder abuse cases at Kuhlman & Lucas, LLC offer legal representation for those whose loved ones have become the victims of nursing home/elder abuse. If you believe you need to consult one of our personal injury attorneys for elder abuse cases, contact our office today.