The rate of questionable transfers of end-stage dementia patients from nursing homes to hospitals has raised flags for public health researchers at Brown University.
After analyzing Medicare records of approximately 475,000 patients, the team, led by Dr. Joan Teno, M.D., found that nearly 20 percent of dementia patients were transferred from their nursing homes into hospitals for questionable reasons. Continue reading
The family of 29-year-old Violet Townsend was shocked and appalled to learn that she was being sexually abused at her long term care nursing facility.
After noticing blood on the seat of Violet’s wheelchair, her parents rushed her to a nearby hospital. Hospital staff confirmed that her injuries were consistent with a sexual assault. Violet also had been infected with a sexually transmitted disease.
A 2006 car accident left Violet with a severe brain injury, leaving her dependent on life support and incapable of any physical movement or of speech. Obviously Townsend did not consent to sex. Continue reading
In an illegal, but growing, new trend, nursing home residents are returning from emergency hospital stays only to find that they are denied re-admittance into their long-term care nursing home facility.
Left homeless, many are then forced to seek attorney representation and wait in the hospital until a new placement can be found. This often has devastating effects on the elderly person’s physical and mental health.
Residents dependent on Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California), are particularly vulnerable to eviction. Medicaid (or Medi-Cal) pay nursing homes as little as half the amount of money that a long-term care facility gets from private insurance or Medicare or from residents who pay out-of-pocket. Those long-term care facilities that put profits over people, look for reasons to evict lower paying residents. Continue reading
When 81-year-old William Leo McDougall was charged with one felony count of murder after beating his 94-year-old roommate over the head with a metal clothing rod, the case helped to expose a growing epidemic of resident-on-resident violence in nursing homes.
Imagine being attacked in your own home and never knowing when it will happen again. One of the most emotionally disturbing aspects about resident-on-resident violence is its unpredictability.
Yet there is a shocking lack of official reporting or legal action taken against violent residents who attack other residents. Continue reading