Nursing homes today are in a crisis. They are too often overpopulated and understaffed, leaving your aging senior without the care that they deserve. Moreover, with a growing problem of elder abuse streaking through nursing care facilities, it is no wonder that nursing homes are a family’s last resort for care.

A recent report, conducted by the Special Investigations Division of the House Government Reform Committee, indicated that more than 9,000 cases of elder abuse were reported in nursing homes between January 1999 and January 2001.

Defining Elder Abuse

To understand the severity of nursing home abuse in the U.S., it is important that we define the various forms of abuse that have been reported,and those that often go unreported. Physical abuse is the most obvious form of abuse. Other types of elder neglect include:

• Emotional abuse
• Verbal abuse
• Financial Exploitation
• Sexual Abuse
• Confinement
• Passive Neglect

Sexual abuse often goes unreported because of the inherent shame involved in admitting such contact. Allegations of confinement are hard to prove. Proof of passive neglect takes time to manifest; seniors who have been “ignored” for some time by their caregivers will start to lose weight and often isolate themselves. Their appearance and behavior will change, often in drastic ways over time.

Are Nursing Homes Taking Control?

Nursing home abuse is a continuing problem that has to be dealt with by those in the position to make widespread changes. However, in order to make changes, higher-ups need to know the extent of the problem. There have been countless studies done to try to define and quantify this problem.

However, as mentioned before, the problem is often not reported, so numbers are often under-represented. In addition, many of the people who experience some form of abuse have cognitive disabilities. This makes it hard for their voice to be heard since many of the reports generated about this come from surveys of nursing home residents.

Does Arbitration Work?

One way to control this nursing home issue is to ensure legal equality and stiff consequences for taking part in the physical or mental abuse of a resident. At the current time, most nursing homes rely on the process of arbitration to resolve conflicts between residents and handle abuse allegations from staff members.

Private arbitration is where the parties meet privately and discuss the incident that occurred. The intention of the discussion is to provide solutions that don’t result in criminal charges or other legal action. While arbitration often solves minor problems, in the case of abuse it only serves to give the advantage to the nursing home administrators in the event that legal action is pursued.

Using Regulation To Curb The Problem

Due to the Nursing Home Reform Act, which was enacted in 1987, nursing homes that obtain Medicaid funding as part of their financial budget must comply with certain government regulations. One of these regulations includes keeping thorough records on each resident. Records should also include information about incidents that might have occurred on the premises.

Nursing homes are also required to provide residents with the “highest level” of care possible.  In addition, inspections and reports of their care must be publicized. By holding nursing homes up to higher standards, Medicaid is cutting down on the potential for abuse.

Is There Potential For A Decrease?

While the federal and state government continues to pass new laws regulating how Medicaid funds nursing homes and how these nursing homes must ensure quality care, senior abuse has the potential to decrease. However, since current reporting standards don’t often take all sufferers into account, the decrease won’t likely show in numbers for quite some time.

In fact, as more people are reached who can report abuse, it is likely that reported numbers will increase before they will get better. But the effort is there. The biggest contributor to lessening nursing home abuse is maintaining a home environment that is properly staffed by highly qualified nurses and has the budget to purchase what the home needs to provide quality care.