Aging population may increase nursing home neglect cases
America is rapidly aging and the growing numbers of senior citizens has many advocates concerned about a potential explosion in the number of nursing home neglect cases throughout New Jersey. Approximately 13 percent of the population is over the age of 65 and in the past three decades the number of individuals over 90 has tripled. The growing numbers of elderly citizens means that more people will find themselves in nursing homes where they may be neglected or subject to other forms of mistreatment.
“Amazing things are occurring simultaneously,” said the director of the geriatrics program at the University of California-Irvine School of Medicine. “The fastest-growing segment are people over 85 and the percentage of people with Alzheimer’s, dementia is at an all-time high. This is just an absolute recipe for disaster.”
The combination of elderly individuals and mental infirmities is a recipe for disaster because these are the types of individuals most vulnerable to neglect and abuse. Elder abuse is a rampant problem and some say that approximately one in 10 seniors will be subjected to elder abuse during their retirement.
“A victim of elder abuse can be anyone,” a retirement community president warned. “They can be rich or poor. They can be independent. They can live in a facility.”
Those who are abused in a nursing home have several options. An experienced nursing home abuse attorney can take on the large companies which run most New Jersey nursing homes and help get a nursing home abuse victim the compensation that he or she is entitled to. More importantly, a nursing home abuse action will hold the nursing home accountable for its action and help prevent the abuse of others.
Source: USA Today, “As USA grays, elder abuse risk and need for shelters grow,” Haya El Nasser, Jan. 10, 2012
