It often takes time to identify nursing home abuse. Family members may notice physical injuries or other issues, raising their suspicions. But the elderly person who is being abused may not report it.
There are many potential reasons for this, one of which is memory loss. For example, if the person has Alzheimer’s disease, one of the main symptoms is memory loss. This does not necessarily mean that they lose access to their long-term memories. In many cases, they just have trouble forming new memories or even remembering conversations that just occurred.
The complications this creates
On one hand, this makes it complicated because they won’t report what is happening – and may not even realize what’s going on. The elderly person may be just as perplexed as to why they have these physical injuries.
In the early stages of Alzheimer’s, people are often aware that their memory is struggling. However, over time, they may lose this awareness. In other words, they could forget an abusive event, and they will not even realize that they have forgotten it or that anything is wrong.
Furthermore, this means that the elderly person can’t necessarily give an accurate account of what happened. They may not even be able to recognize the individual—such as a nursing home staff member—who is perpetuating the abuse.
Taking legal action
All of these issues are reasons why the elderly are often targeted for different types of abuse. They also mean that it is very important for family members to understand exactly what legal steps to take when they suspect nursing home abuse is occurring.
