Elder Abuse in Nursing Homes
- Gary Moller
- Mar 20, 2021
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 4, 2024
There are many reports of increased deaths among the elderly, as the consequence of lockdowns. To understand more about this, including the enormity of the problem, please read some of these articles and reports.
This is elder abuse.
The unintended consequences of well-intentioned public health measures.
Elder abuse can be as subtle as neglect of provision of regular dental health services. This problem of neglect is widespread throughout the developed world, presumably including New Zealand. We can add malnutrition to the list of neglects. Add the excessive and pointless use of medication, including the use of medication to control patients who might otherwise be too "stroppy" to manage.
Malnutrition
Dementia
Here is a resource about elder abuse that is relevant not just for the USA
"According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), each year in the United States there are more than a half a million reported cases of elder abuse. Because thousands of cases go undiscovered and unreported, the actual number is considerably higher. While elder abuse in nursing homes is pandemic, there are even more cases of abuse occurring in private settings."
Thank you for your contribution, loujojolou. Some of the best performers on the share market are the operators of these facilities. These are also among the worst performers when it comes to wages and conditions for workers. I appreciate, as well, that there are some facilities that are grossly under-funded - full-stop - which means not enough to adequately staff these facilities and to provide career paths. It also means resorting to the cheapest food.
I would never, for a moment, be critical of the tireless front-line workers in these facilities. They do the best with the scarce resources given to them.
I work in a rest home and I can tell you they have absolutely no idea how to feed their residents. The menu's the dieticians prescribe ensure a slow decline in mental and physical health while ensuring they have just enough nutrition to survive to keep the cash-cow alive. It's truly despicable and heart-breaking.
When I was working in Dunedin Hospital about 1976, an elderly woman was admitted from a rest home to lose weight. She was placed on a diet of a slice of white bread and a dollop of marmite and a glass of water each day. Nothing else. Other than dementia and being very overweight, she was in relative good health.
She was confined to bed in a room, white walls, no pictures, no radio, no TV.
I watched her go gaga. Ten days after admission she was dead. She just stopped living.