Elder Abuse Reports Climb in Cuyahoga County, Ohio

This article was written by Ohio nursing home attorney, Blake Dickson.

About 23% of Americans are age 60 or older, according to the U.S. Census. In Ohio that number is slightly higher, at 24%, and in Cuyahoga County nearly 26% of its residents are age 60 or older.

By 2030, about 30% of Cuyahoga County's population, more than 400,000 people, are projected to be age 60 or older. People are living longer. This age group also includes the Baby Boomers, born after World War II, when the United States saw a surge in population.

Adult protective services in Cuyahoga County are receiving more elder abuse reports than ever. A lot of these cases have to do with older people living in the community. Their mental faculties are often declining and unfortunately that makes them vulnerable to unscrupulous people. Some older people simply don't have the support from family. Either they've outlived their family or their family does not live nearby. Oftentimes it's no longer safe for them to live independently.

Many families face the very difficult decision to place their loved one in a nursing home. It has always struck me as tragic that this has to be a difficult decision for families, given the fact that most families ultimately need the assistance of a nursing home. These facilities ought to be wonderful places where elderly people receive exceptional care.

The State of Ohio has passed laws to protect elderly residents living in nursing homes. There is a whole body of law known as the Nursing Home Residents' Bill of Rights. Nursing homes in Ohio are legally obligated to treat their residents with dignity and respect. They are legally obligated to provide their residents with a safe and clean living environment. Under federal law nursing homes are obligated to provide their residents with adequate supervision to prevent accidents.

Unfortunately here at The Dickson Firm, we receive calls on a daily basis about residents who have been neglected or abused.

We see cases involving falls. Residents are often not adequately supervised. These falls often result in tragic life-threatening injuries. Many of our fall cases involve residents who have died as a result of a fall. An elderly resident who suffers an orthopedic fracture is unlikely to be alive one year later. The mortality rate is greater than 50% for these residents.

If you have a loved one who is older, one of the most important things that you can do is do everything in your power to help prevent them from suffering a fall. Make sure their environment is safe and uncluttered. Make sure they're able to get in and out of the shower or the tub safely. It may be time to purchase them a shower or a tub which has easy access. There are showers with no threshold or barrier to entry and there are also tubs that open so the person does not have to climb in. Make sure they walk safely. If they have a dog that they take for walks, make sure the dog is not pulling them or yanking them. If they need an assistance device like a walker or cane, make sure they use it. If they need supervision, make sure they have supervision.

Falls for elderly people often begin a downward spiral, which ends in that person passing away. If an elderly person suffers a fall and they suffer a fracture, they often have to undergo surgery, which is incredibly stressful and risky. They have reduced mobility, which can lead to pneumonia. If they're no longer able to move around on their own and care for themselves and bathe themselves, they often develop skin breakdown, which can be life-threatening.

Falls pose a very serious risk for elderly people and they must be prevented at all costs.

We see residents who are neglected. They have a reduction in their mobility and, unfortunately, the nursing home does not turn and reposition them on a regular basis. As a result they develop skin breakdown. They develop horrific bedsores that are often life-threatening. Tragically we see residents who have died as a result of completely avoidable bedsores.

Even more tragic are the cases that involve abuse. We see residents who are physically abused by other residents because they're not being adequately supervised and because the other residents are not being properly treated. We see nursing homes that admit residents who they should not admit, simply to make money. We see multiple cases where the residents have admitted someone or failed to discharge someone who has a history of abusing the other residents. We see cases where residents are sexually assaulting other residents and yet the assailant is not discharged from the nursing home.

We see cases where residents are being abused by staff. Nursing homes have a duty to screen their employees. They cannot hire somebody who has a history of abusing or neglecting residents. They cannot hire somebody who has a conviction for any of a long list of crimes. Nursing Homes are obligated to run a background check on their employees before they hire them. Oftentimes they don't do that. Even more often they don't continue to monitor their staff. Oftentimes the nursing homes are unaware of issues with their existing staff, even new criminal convictions, and so they fail to discharge those employees.

It has always seemed tragic to me that anyone would neglect an elderly person, much less abuse an elderly person. Unfortunately there are people out there who willfully take advantage of vulnerable people. We've handled cases involving residents who were unable to speak and who were physically abused by the staff at the nursing home. I'm confident that the staff chose that resident to abuse because they felt that resident would not be able to report the abuse. Fortunately we were able to hold both the nursing home and the employees accountable. In that case multiple employees were fired and two even went to prison.

If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at The Dickson Firm at 1-800-OHIO-LAW, as we would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.