Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
When many people think about abuse in nursing homes, they imagine physical abuse, like bruises or broken bones. While nursing home residents can endure physical abuse, they can also suffer emotional abuse. Emotional abuse may not leave behind physical scars, but it can still be very damaging. If you have reason to believe that your loved one has suffered emotional abuse in a nursing home, you may want to contact a nursing home abuse lawyer to talk about your legal options.
Types of Emotional Abuse in Nursing Homes
When you place your elderly family member in a nursing home, you likely never imagine for him or her to endure abuse. Unfortunately, however, nursing home residents can suffer abuse, including emotional abuse. As explained by our friends at Disparti Law Group, one of the most common types of emotional abuse is verbal harassment. This happens when a staff member yells or screams at a resident or calls him or her hurtful names.
Isolation is another form of emotional abuse and occurs when staff members intentionally isolate residents from their family members and friends. Since they can’t see their loved ones, these nursing home residents feel lonelier and more depressed.
Emotional abuse may also include intimidation and threats to harm a resident.
As you can probably imagine, emotional abuse can make nursing home life very difficult for residents. They may experience depression, anxiety, loneliness and even post-traumatic stress disorder.
Signs of Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse is not as obvious as physical abuse. If your loved one has endured emotional abuse, you may not notice right away. In fact, many elderly people feel ashamed and never admit to experiencing abuse. That is why it is important to be aware of the signs of emotional abuse, such as:
- Depression
- Lack of eye contact
- Rocking back and forth
- Self-harm
- Changes in sleeping and eating patterns
- Isolating from family and friends
- Low self-esteem
If you notice any of these signs in your loved one, he or she may have suffered emotional abuse.
What to Do If You Suspect Emotional Abuse
If you believe that your elderly family member, it can be very disheartening. You feel terrible that your loved one has had to endure something so horrible and want to do something. The good news is that you can. The first step is to remove your family member from the nursing home. You certainly do not want him or her to endure any more emotional harm.
Next, get in touch with an experienced nursing home abuse attorney. If you plan to file a legal claim against a nursing home, you will want to have an experienced attorney on your side. He or she will know how much your family member’s case is worth and help fight for fair compensation. An attorney can handle the negotiation process with the insurance company and give your family peace of mind.
Schedule a consultation with a lawyer today to discuss your case in detail.