Pandemic Crisis Raising the Risk of Elder Abuse and Exploitation
Elder homes provide care for people in their senior years. If you have an elderly loved one in such a facility, you have no doubt heard about the threat posed to them by COVID-19. What you may have heard less about is the other primary risk factor that has increased since the pandemic: elder abuse.
To protect elders from the virus, nursing homes have restricted access to their residents. Even visits by family have been cut down or even eliminated to reduce the risk of infection. The effect has been to isolate seniors since their immune systems are weaker, making them more susceptible to catching the virus and dying from it. However, these measures to protect the elderly have given immoral and unscrupulous people a window to abuse and exploit elderly people.
How Elderly People Are Being Abused in Nursing Homes
Many elderly people have had to learn how to use a range of electronic communications devices to stay in touch with family. Their unfamiliarity with social media, email, and text messaging systems makes them vulnerable to individuals who use these devices to engage isolated seniors online so that they can exploit, steal from, and abuse them.
If your parents, grandparent, aunt or uncle did not use many electronic devices before COVID-19, they may not be able to recognize a message, email, or post from a person who is looking to get their bank details or to psychologically manipulate them. The desire of elderly people to stay connected with their loved ones puts them in an online environment that can be overwhelming and dangerous. Virtual predators have become aware of this reality and are on the hunt for online seniors.
The threat can also come from inside the nursing home itself. The isolated state of nursing homes allows the employees freedom to treat the seniors however they wish since there are not visitors around to witness their mistreatment. Additionally, nursing homes are frequently understaffed, so it’s possible the employees don’t have time to give them the care they need.
Nursing Homes Have a Responsibility
While nursing home staff have no right to monitor the online communications of residents, they do have a responsibility to monitor the health of the residents. Weight loss, lack of appetite, depression, and distress are signs that all is not well.
The people paid to look after your elderly loved one should pick up on these signs before you do, especially since you cannot visit due to social distancing. They should then take action to get to the bottom of the cause of any sudden decline in the health of your loved one.
Taking Action Against the Nursing Home
The new realities of the pandemic cannot excuse poor nursing home care. If your elderly loved one has been exploited and abused, it owes to the neglect of the people who should be looking after them. You can hold the nursing home accountable by charging them for elder abuse.
Your first step will be to hire an injury lawyer Ontario. An injury lawyer Ontario is the only professional who can help you get justice. You should also report nursing home neglect to the proper regulatory authorities. It is important to report nursing home neglect to prevent the same thing from happening to others.
Elder abuse lawyers Ontario handle neglect cases all the time. Elder abuse lawyers Ontario know how to gather all the facts concerning such incidents. Nursing home neglect lawyers also know how to speak to elderly people to better understand how they were lured in the online scheme or scam that cost them their money or dignity.
Suing a nursing home for negligence is the best way to right a wrong. You trust the staff at such nursing homes to take the measures necessary to protect your loved one from harm. When they fail, they should be held accountable. Suing a nursing home for negligence is not without challenges and difficulties. Nursing home neglect lawyers know how to overcome them.
