The Elder Justice Roadmap May Help Reduce Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

When our elderly loved ones are no longer able to care for themselves, we often depend on the staff at nursing homes and long-term care facilities to provide quality treatment. But according to data from National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), more than one out of every 10 individuals over age 65 will become the victim of abuse or neglect this year.

The North Carolina nursing home abuse lawyers at HensonFuerst explain that in order to combat the problem, a new plan has been developed to promote awareness, education, and activism against elder abuse and neglect.

The NCEA created the The Elder Justice Roadmap by seeking the opinions of 750 individuals heavily involved in the battle against elder abuse. The plan has been divided into four specific categories. Each category then provides steps that must be taken to prevent elder abuse at the local, state, and national levels.

The categories include:

• Direct Services- In order to reduce elder abuse and neglect rates in the U.S., experts say care facility management and workers must become more sensitive to the needs of older Americans. Caregiving teams should also be diversified in their disciplines.
• Education- The public must become more aware of the issue of elder abuse in our country by being provided with more information on the problem.
• Policy- More effective laws and assessments of facilities and policies are needed to protect the elderly from abuse and neglect.
• Research- Little information is available regarding the footprint or impact of elder abuse and neglect in the U.S. Clear definitions and goals are necessary to improve elder abuse research, as is building the number of facilities and workers involved in the field.

At HensonFuerst, we recognize the damage abuse and neglect can cause our loved ones, and our North Carolina personal injury lawyers are hopeful the plan outlined in The Elder Justice Roadmap will be successful. We encourage anyone with a loved one living in a nursing home to be aware of the signs of abuse, as well as nursing home residents’ rights.