Alexandria, Louisiana, July 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. has approximately 1.4 million nursing home residents, most of whom rely heavily on the competence of staff members to meet the basic standards of living. Yet, the occurrence of abuse and neglect in these facilities has been a major concern across the country for decades.
As an attorney that handles nursing home abuse cases in Louisiana, Chris Roy Jr. has seen how residents and their families suffer when facilities provide inadequate and negligent care.
“It’s truly shameful to see how so many elderly people are mistreated once they are placed in certain nursing homes,” Roy Jr. said. “I believe this runs counter to the values of our culture and that we too often fail to be proactive in stopping this mistreatment.”
Roy Jr. expressed optimism over a recent Louisiana law that permits some residents and families to install monitoring equipment in residents’ rooms. Roy Jr. also said that the so-called “granny cam law,” should go further.
“This law would be more effective if cameras came at no cost to residents or their families,” Roy Jr. said. “Placing the costs of monitoring a loved one’s safety on a family, instead of on the facility, is problematic, and it reflects the burden that too many families are forced to carry once they place their loved one in a nursing home.”
Roy Jr. also pointed to the opening of an assisted-living facility in Violeta as a potential cause for concern. The owners of the facility are the same that failed to promptly evacuate a nursing home during Hurricane Katrina in 2007. As the facility flooded, 35 patients lost their lives.
In a 2017 report from AARP, Louisiana placed 40th in the ability to meet needs of elderly residents and those with disabilities. Roy Jr. said federal and state governments should dedicate more funding to shore up safety, oversight and security of nursing home facilities.
“We all want to live in a country that places a premium on our elderly population’s quality of life,” Roy Jr. said. “But if we don’t put our money where our mouth is, we’ll continue to see inadequate and grossly negligent care in these facilities.”
Nursing home abuse is often underreported in the United States. More than 25 percent of occurrences of nursing home abuse go unreported. One in five nursing home residents have experienced nursing home abuse, either verbally or physically, at the hands of other residents.