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My mother keeps yelling that her nursing home is abusive, and the staff wants to hurt her, but she has Alzheimer's and has had paranoid episodes in the past. How can we know if she really is being abused?
This is a difficult situation. First of all, it is always important to listen to a resident’s concerns. Your mother is likely particularly vulnerable due to her compromised psychological state. However, since her mental ability to understand her condition might be impaired, it is also important for you to look for other signs of abuse or neglect, such as unexplained injuries, open wounds, cuts, bruises, welts, or bed sores or other unusual conditions or behavior. If you can ask your mother for as much detail as possible regarding her concerns, that might also help confirm (or discredit) her allegations.
Spend as much time as possible observing your mother’s situation, and ask friends and/or relatives to do the same. If you see any signs at all of nursing home neglect or abuse during visits, it is crucial to get your mother into a safe situation immediately, then fully investigate her treatment. To investigate, it might help to document everything you observe or hear about in writing; a “journal” of sorts can help you remember what everyone said and when. You will need an authorization signed by your mother or a “power of attorney” to have the right to receive copies of her medical and care records. It might help to get a nursing home attorney involved at an early stage so that nothing is missed in the documentation process. An attorney can help you build your case by requesting and reviewing care and treatment records, taking sworn statements from participants in her care and other residents as well as you and your mother (if she is able). You or your attorney might want to hire a private investigator and/or a photographer to document visible signs of abuse or neglect. You might be able to have a video camera installed in her room to document everything that goes on, but it would involve a special provision by the nursing home or a court order, and it would have to be monitored consistently in order to get the documentation you need.
It is difficult to handle the emotional toll that your mother’s situation is taking on you and on her. If you are convinced that her allegations of abuse or unfounded, it is worth trying to work with the nursing home and your mother’s caregivers to find the best possible solution for her to feel as comfortable as possible in her surroundings. |
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