Elder Abuse: Do You Worry About a Loved One's Nursing Home Care?

Admitting a loved one to a nursing home can be a difficult decision for families, even when that level of professional care is for the best.

That decision can be even more emotionally taxing when families also have to worry about the possibility of elder abuse and neglect.

RELATED: 62-Year-Old Man Beaten by Health Center Employee

Last week, an employee at a Novi nursing home was accused of beating a 62-year-old patient, and the incident had families with loved ones at the center speaking out to media outlets about other cases.

William Thomas Hill, a 28-year-old nursing assistant, was charged with two counts of third-degree vulnerable adult abuse in connection with hitting a 62-year-old Wixom man March 11 at the Whitehall Healthcare Center. Novi police also are investigating the center when it comes abuse claims by other patients, according to a 7 Action News report.

But how big a problem is abuse and neglect among nursing homes and other care facilities?

RELATED: Nursing Assistant Arrested in Beating of 62-Year-Old Man

Overall, the U.S. government’s National Center on Elder Abuse reports that it’s difficult to accurately track how many elderly citizens are mistreated. Professionals might not be trained to spot the signs, and the victims might not report cases out of fear or because they suffer mental or physical disabilities, according to the center. What the agency does know is that elderly women are abused at higher rate than elderly men, and the older an individual, the more likely he or she is to be abused.

When it comes to abuse in care centers, the agency cites a 2000 study that found the following among nursing home residents:

• 95 percent reported being neglected or seeing a resident neglected
• 44 percent reported being abused

A government study of more than 5,000 U.S. nursing homes found that 30 percent of them had been cited for almost 9,000 cases of abuse from January 1999 to January 2001, according to an ABC News report. Of those cases, more than 1,500 of them were reported to cause harm, serious injury or the possibility of death.

The incidents included bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration and other issues, according to the report.

With statistics like that, it can be worrisome leaving a loved one in a nursing home. The NCEA, however, provides a checklist and guide that helps families identify and avoid potentially dangerous centers.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Do you worry about your loved one’s safety in a nursing home? Are there things you’ve done to protect your mom and dad while she or he has been at a care center? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.