Elder abuse comes in many forms and is often accomplished by individuals who ingratiate themselves with their victims. As in any business there are trustworthy professionals and there are those who scam the public. Many elderly have savings that they wish to safely invest for their future needs but they can be swayed by those they trust to give over their savings for investment purposes created by their "friendly" insurance agent. There is an article that was brought to my attention, written by Elizabeth Furnari, Deputy District Attorney - Insurance Fraud Division of the San Diego District Attorney's Office. She points out that being aware of the different types of insurance and annuity scams is the first step in protecting yourself. http://www.sdcda.org/files/conartists.pdf . Also the The California Department of Insurance (CDI) has created a "Senior Insurance Bill of Rights" which provides a list of precautions to take when purchasing any type of insurance policy and the regulations that protect those rights. http://www.insurance.ca.gov.
There is so much information being provided for the protection of the general public but so many times it is ignored or missed altogether. We at Elder Care Guides try to provide this forum as another way to share information and in doing so we can enlighten and hopefully protect someone from becoming a victim.
Showing posts with label elder abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elder abuse. Show all posts
Monday, March 15, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Elder Abuse and Insurance
Elder abuse comes in many forms and is often accomplished by individuals who ingratiate themselves with their victims. As in any business there are trustworthy professionals and there are those who scam the public.
Many elderly have savings that they wish to safely invest for their future needs but they can be swayed by those they trust to give over their savings for investment purposes created by their "friendly" insurance agent.
There is an article that was brought to my attention, written by Elizabeth Furnari, Deputy District Attorney - Insurance Fraud Division of the San Diego District Attorney's Office. She points out that being aware of the different types of insurance and annuity scams is the first step in protecting yourself. http://www.sdcda.org/files/conartists.pdf. Also the The California Department of Insurance (CDI) has created a "Senior Insurance Bill of Rights" which provides a list of precautions to take when purchasing any type of insurance policy and the regulations that protect those rights. http://www.insurance.ca.gov/
There is so much information being provided for the protection of the general public but so many times it is ignored or missed altogether. We at Elder Care Guides try to provide this forum as another way to share information and in doing so we can enlighten and hopefully protect someone from becoming a victim.
Many elderly have savings that they wish to safely invest for their future needs but they can be swayed by those they trust to give over their savings for investment purposes created by their "friendly" insurance agent.
There is an article that was brought to my attention, written by Elizabeth Furnari, Deputy District Attorney - Insurance Fraud Division of the San Diego District Attorney's Office. She points out that being aware of the different types of insurance and annuity scams is the first step in protecting yourself. http://www.sdcda.org/files/conartists.pdf. Also the The California Department of Insurance (CDI) has created a "Senior Insurance Bill of Rights" which provides a list of precautions to take when purchasing any type of insurance policy and the regulations that protect those rights. http://www.insurance.ca.gov/
There is so much information being provided for the protection of the general public but so many times it is ignored or missed altogether. We at Elder Care Guides try to provide this forum as another way to share information and in doing so we can enlighten and hopefully protect someone from becoming a victim.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Elder Abuse - A Personal Story (part 2)
Continuing story from Elder Abuse - A Personal Story (part 1):
As already described, while visiting with my mother in the nursing home, I discovered that she was being abused by someone in the facility. Although her cognitive abilities were intact, she did have aphasia caused by her stroke and the only word she could verbalize was "waiter" which really held no specific meaning.
Since my mother couldn't identify her abuser by naming her, I had to come up with another way for mom to let me know who this person was. I wanted to inform the facility Administrator immediately but my mother, in her way, begged for me to hold off. She had such a look of fear, I realized she was afraid of retribution so I devised a new plan.
The plan was to push my mom in her wheelchair throughout the facility coming at various times of the day so I could cover all the different shifts. When we came upon the individual, my mom was to put her foot down, stopping the wheelchair, grab my hand and acknowledge the person.With this plan understood and agreed to, we entered the building and proceeded towards her wing.
It was a busy time and many of the staff were in the area. All at once, a caregiver (I'll call Mary- not real name) stepped out from a room. My mother put her foot down and grabbed my hand. Mary came directly over to mom, putting her arms around her in a hug and giving her a big kiss. The look on my mother's face said everything, there was fear, disgust and revulsion.
Mary had worked with my mother for a few years and was a very friendly type. Because of this, I had to ask my mom if she was sure that Mary was the abuser. She nodded yes, but I still hesitated because this all happened so quickly. I looked mom directly in the eyes and asked again, she grabbed my hand squeezed it, nodded and started to cry.
We immediately went to the Administrator, explained the situation and resulting discovery. He asked mom a few questions and agreed to take Mary off her care. Because of mom's aphasia she could not identify Mary verbally so they couldn't fire her but two years later, after my mother had passed away, I met some people who had had their relative at the same nursing facility and at the same time. They told me they had personally caught Mary abusing their relative. She was fired on the spot.
This experience ignited my resolve to help advocate for those who have no one to speak on their behalf and it is why I became an Ombudsman and ultimately a geriatric care manager. Sadly, my mother's story is not unusual but with more awareness of elder abuse and involvement in the programs helping prevent it, we will make a change.
As already described, while visiting with my mother in the nursing home, I discovered that she was being abused by someone in the facility. Although her cognitive abilities were intact, she did have aphasia caused by her stroke and the only word she could verbalize was "waiter" which really held no specific meaning.
Since my mother couldn't identify her abuser by naming her, I had to come up with another way for mom to let me know who this person was. I wanted to inform the facility Administrator immediately but my mother, in her way, begged for me to hold off. She had such a look of fear, I realized she was afraid of retribution so I devised a new plan.
The plan was to push my mom in her wheelchair throughout the facility coming at various times of the day so I could cover all the different shifts. When we came upon the individual, my mom was to put her foot down, stopping the wheelchair, grab my hand and acknowledge the person.With this plan understood and agreed to, we entered the building and proceeded towards her wing.
It was a busy time and many of the staff were in the area. All at once, a caregiver (I'll call Mary- not real name) stepped out from a room. My mother put her foot down and grabbed my hand. Mary came directly over to mom, putting her arms around her in a hug and giving her a big kiss. The look on my mother's face said everything, there was fear, disgust and revulsion.
Mary had worked with my mother for a few years and was a very friendly type. Because of this, I had to ask my mom if she was sure that Mary was the abuser. She nodded yes, but I still hesitated because this all happened so quickly. I looked mom directly in the eyes and asked again, she grabbed my hand squeezed it, nodded and started to cry.
We immediately went to the Administrator, explained the situation and resulting discovery. He asked mom a few questions and agreed to take Mary off her care. Because of mom's aphasia she could not identify Mary verbally so they couldn't fire her but two years later, after my mother had passed away, I met some people who had had their relative at the same nursing facility and at the same time. They told me they had personally caught Mary abusing their relative. She was fired on the spot.
This experience ignited my resolve to help advocate for those who have no one to speak on their behalf and it is why I became an Ombudsman and ultimately a geriatric care manager. Sadly, my mother's story is not unusual but with more awareness of elder abuse and involvement in the programs helping prevent it, we will make a change.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Elder Abuse - A Personal Story (part 1)
Elder abuse is a term referring to any action or non-action that results in harm to an elderly or older helpless person. Abuse can happen anywhere, in the older person's home, nursing home or hospitals and it can happen no matter the person's socio-economic group, culture or race.
This problem and its resulting consequences have personal meaning for me because my mother had been abused while a resident in a nursing facility.
My mother had suffered a massive stroke which affected her speech and left her paralyzed on her right side. Because of the severity of the stroke and her declining health, she needed on-going nursing care so she had to be placed in a nursing home.
She lived in this facility for 4 years. My children and I were constant visitors and we knew the administrative staff and caregivers very well, or so we thought.
One day while visiting my mom and after a lovely walk around the grounds I was getting up to leave and said I would take her back to her room. She didn't want me to leave or to go back in. Her aphasia prevented her from verbalizing words but one sound she could make was "waiter". She was able to understand things, so for the next hour I tried coming up with reasons why she didn't want me to leave when finally I was inspired to ask if she was afraid of something. That was the breakthrough question and when she nodded affirmatively, I knew there must be more to this fear of hers.
This problem and its resulting consequences have personal meaning for me because my mother had been abused while a resident in a nursing facility.
My mother had suffered a massive stroke which affected her speech and left her paralyzed on her right side. Because of the severity of the stroke and her declining health, she needed on-going nursing care so she had to be placed in a nursing home.
She lived in this facility for 4 years. My children and I were constant visitors and we knew the administrative staff and caregivers very well, or so we thought.
One day while visiting my mom and after a lovely walk around the grounds I was getting up to leave and said I would take her back to her room. She didn't want me to leave or to go back in. Her aphasia prevented her from verbalizing words but one sound she could make was "waiter". She was able to understand things, so for the next hour I tried coming up with reasons why she didn't want me to leave when finally I was inspired to ask if she was afraid of something. That was the breakthrough question and when she nodded affirmatively, I knew there must be more to this fear of hers.
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