Emotional Abuse Occurs at New York Nursing Home Facilities

It is harder to recognize the warning signs of emotional abuse in New York nursing homes, as it is not as obvious as other types of nursing home abuse. For example, you can generally detect financial abuse, as there are missing checks, cash or credit cards. Physical abuse is typically apparent, as the victim will have bruises, lacerations or other marks indicating violence. However, when it comes to emotional abuse, the victim is often hesitant to tell anyone and he or she is the only one who can bring this nursing home abuse to light.

When a nursing home resident is the victim of emotional abuse, it can impact his or her health and happiness. Emotional abuse spills over into other aspects of the elderly resident’s life.

Emotional abuse can occur when someone does the following to a nursing home resident:

Makes threats
Intimidates by yelling
Humiliates or ridicules
Ignores the elderly resident
Isolates the resident from friends or activities
Engages in menacing behavior

If your loved one is living in a nursing home, then you need to recognize the warning signs of emotional abuse, which include:

Agitation
Acting withdrawn
Unusual behavior, such as rocking or biting
Isolating himself or herself from other people
Extremely non-communicative

Discovering that your family member has been the victim of nursing home abuse can be overwhelming. However, you need to take action immediately by not only contacting the nursing home facility, but also calling a Long Island nursing home abuse attorney. The law firm of Rappaport, Glass, Greene and Levine can help you pursue justice on behalf of your elderly family member and hold the abuser accountable. Contact us at 800.734.9445 for more information regarding your legal options.