Senior Health - Elder Abuse In Nursing Homes

We've seen the headlines: "Nursing Home to Pay After Death." "Relatives of Victims of Nursing Home Neglect Say $2-Million Penalty Against Chain's Owner Isn't Enough to Force Industry Reforms." Perhaps we've heard a relative say: "I'd rather be dead than in a nursing home." Are they really as bad as all that?

The graphic shows some statistics about nursing homes, their staffs, and their residents. The data were reported by Catherine Hawes, PhD, in testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance in June 2002. Hawes told the committee: "There are no reliable data on the prevalence of abuse or neglect in nursing homes or residential long-term care facilities. However, the piecemeal evidence we do have suggests the problem is serious and widespread." Later, Hawes stated: "The daily misery, indignity, preventable decline, and premature death caused by neglect in nursing homes is truly a national tragedy. Moreover, it is probably more widespread than abuse."