Helping an Elderly Relative Recover from Nursing Home Abuse
If one of your close family members has been a victim of elder abuse, you know how devastating the situation can be. Once it has been brought to your attention and stopped, you have the option of moving forward with a nursing home abuse claim. But most importantly, you can start to help your loved one heal from the trauma of the abuse.
The Healing Process
No matter what form of abuse your relative endured, he or she is likely suffering in more ways than one. Physical injuries from elder abuse must be immediately addressed, whether that means a hospital stay or the assistance of prescription drugs to ease the pain.
Unfortunately, Illinois has high rates of unreported nursing home abuse. For this reason, there has been an influx of much-needed recovery centers with a special focus on abuse. Facilities like these are a great resource to utilize in the healing process. They often offer abuse recovery counselors and put an emphasis on victims expressing themselves and reclaiming their lives.
Emotionally, it is quite common for the elderly to feel ashamed of themselves after abuse. Under no circumstances should they feel as if it was their fault, but every person deals with trauma differently. Some may cope more easily than others who have been abused.
It is crucial to remind your loved one that he or she is not responsible for what happened and that you’re going to be sure that nothing like this ever happens again.
Begin Your Search for a New Caregiver
The daunting task of finding a new nursing home or caregiver should be your next step once healing has begun. It is unlikely that you will want to keep your loved one in the same facility where the abuse first occurred. Not only should your current nursing home be thoroughly investigated for additional cases of abuse and held legally accountable, but your relative is probably not going to feel safe there anymore.
You can begin by interviewing new assisted living facilities and conducting thorough research to see whether you are able to uncover other abuse claims. If there have been other instances of abuse, there should be a legal record of them with the Illinois Department of Public Health.
If you are uncomfortable with placing your family member in another nursing home environment, you may be able to employ a home health aide or home nurse who can care for your loved one much in the same way a nursing home would.
Seek the Advice of a Rockford Elder Abuse Lawyer
If you are dealing with the horrors of nursing home abuse, an elder abuse attorney at Mahoney & Mahoney, LLC can help alleviate some of the burden. We will work with you to recover costly expenses and punitive damages for the pain and suffering of your loved one.
To begin this process, fill out the form at the bottom of this page or give us a call at 815-656-4600.
