Generations at Regency

As family, you will face plenty of difficult emotions yourself. You may feel guilty that you can’t care for them yourself. You may feel sad or nostalgic for the memories of when they were more active. You might feel relief that they’re getting the care they need, mixed with worry and even fear that care will not be adequate or that your family member will come to some harm there.

While rare, abuse and neglect in nursing homes does happen, so your concerns are valid. However, there are things you can do to minimize the risk of your family member being mistreated.

To start with, you can do everything in your power to find them a safe nursing home facility. Unfortunately, not all elder care facilities are equal. Most are for-profit businesses that function according to money-making practices and not necessarily according to what’s best for residents. However, it is possible to pick a nursing home that shows proof of making resident care a high priority.

Each year Medicare rates Medicare-certified facilities based on a number of factors such as the findings of annual health inspection reports, staff to resident ratios, and other quality measures. You can use these ratings published on medicare.org to identify the facilities that are striving and avoid the ones that are struggling. Medicare even publishes its health inspection documents so you can see what kind of deficiencies were found in each facility for additional insight.

In addition to choosing a highly-rated nursing home, you can also take steps to protect your loved one from neglect and abuse by visiting them often and looking for signs that they aren’t receiving the care they need. These signs can be many and innocuous as a disheveled appearance or lost personal items to dangerous such as unexplained weight loss and burns, bruises, or cuts.

Other signs may include untreated or new bedsores, frequent trips to the emergency room, incorrect medication, wandering, lack of basic necessities, dirty facilities, or behavioral changes such as violent or withdrawn behavior.

If you see any signs of abuse or neglect of a loved one, document what you’ve seen. Then, begin the process of submitting a grievance to the nursing home. This procedure should have been communicated to you when your family member was admitted, and it should be posted publicly for your reference also.

You should also immediately alert someone in charge if you feel your relative is in any danger. Contact a staff supervisor or facility administrator about your concerns so they can investigate and put a stop to any wrongdoings. They may find your documentation useful and should keep you up to date on what they’re doing to prevent harm befalling your family member.

If for some reason the nursing home fails to protect your loved one from further abuse because they do not take your claims seriously or are unwilling to take appropriate action, you have the right to seek help from outside sources. Your loved one’s doctor, the local long-term care ombudsman, or the state licensing agency can help you report abuse to the right authorities. You may also consider seeking legal counsel if your relative has suffered real harm at the hands of nursing home staff.

Levin & Perconti are nationally recognized leaders in nursing home abuse law. We’ve seen the good and the bad in Illinois nursing homes, and we want you to be able to protect your senior family members in assisted living. To help you, we share the information you need from medicare.org to compare nursing homes, such as Generations at Regency, and find the best rated ones. And in the event that your loved one still falls victim to a negligent nursing home, we are here for you with our legal expertise.