The Effects of COVID-19 on Elder Abuse
Seniors suffer from elder abuse cases daily — and the coronavirus is making it worse.
By Kenndall Wallace
Kenndall Wallace and her grandmother Evelyn Wallace. Courtesy Kenndall Wallace
One day, I recall speaking to one of the patients in the hallway of my grandmother's elder care facility and escorting her to her room after finding that she had been left by the wall for 30 minutes, watching as her caretakers walked past her without bothering to ask how she was feeling and if she needed assistance.
Across the hall from her room, I heard a woman screaming. No one was in the room with her when I walked past, but her screams were so gut-wrenching and intense that it was as though she was being tortured in her hospital bed. Silently, I pleaded for someone to assist her, for someone to ease her discomfort.
But she was still screaming when I left the nursing facility.
This woman, as well as the woman who I assisted to her room, were just two examples of the extent of elder abuse and neglect in health care facilities — and these examples have undoubtedly increased since the coronavirus pandemic has caused lockdowns and quarantines to be implemented across the nation.
According to the World Health Organization, the overall rate of elder abuse in institutional settings such as nursing homes and elder care facilities is estimated at 64%, which often leads to the psychological and physical demise of elderly patients. One study cited by the WHO found that as many as two out of every three staffers in elder care facilities may be abusing their patients daily.
The extent of elder abuse in these centers can take form in a multitude of ways, such as leaving elders in soiled clothes for extended periods of time, allowing them to develop pressure sores due to a lack of proper daily rotation, refusing to distribute the proper dosages of medication, as well as intentionally causing emotional and physical neglect. These factors help explain why elders who have been mistreated have a 300% higher risk of death compared to those who have not been mistreated in these facilities, according to the National Council on Aging.
Despite the seemingly obvious and alarming rates of elder abuse cases that occur globally, the overall inaction of government officials in the United States has only allowed institutions and facilities to continue their mistreatment of the elderly without fear of consequence. This problem has only increased in light of the recent coronavirus pandemic that swept across the nation.
Dr. Duke Han, a researcher of geriatric abuse in the University of Southern California, stated in a report published in April that there has been a "massive increase in reports of elder abuse during the pandemic, noting COVID-19 as being 'deleterious' to older adults. Because of elders' increased dependency on their caretakers due to the pandemic, these institutions have become a breeding ground for elder abuse cases and have consequently caused widespread stress and anxiety on both the patients themselves as well as their families.
Despite the extreme lack of information provided by the U.S. regarding elder abuse during the recent pandemic, Canada states that there has been a tenfold increase in the reports of elder abuse received in recent months. If elder abuse cases have spiked that much in Canada — which has an approximate population of 36 million people — then what could the increase be in the U.S. — with a population of roughly 328 million people? How many older adults are silently suffering at the hands of their nurses and caretakers on a daily basis, too afraid to cry out for help? There is no way to know for certain, and the uncertainty alone is more than enough to create a heavy question in the minds of families, researchers and health officials alike.
What is going on behind closed doors?
The National Center on Elder Abuse, or NCEA, states that “social isolation is one of the greatest risk factors for elder abuse” and cites COVID-19 as being an increasingly difficult problem for elders in nursing or long-term care facilities. This perspective is shared by many officials in the field of geriatric care, and some state that cases of abuse may increase during the pandemic due to the “unbuffered time” these caretakers spend with their patients. And, according to a firsthand account from a nurse at an unnamed senior center, this concern has a considerable amount of merit.
"(The workers) really just don't care about the clients here," the nurse said in reference to the elder care facility in which she works. The nurse, though specifically requesting that her name and her workplace be undisclosed, noted the facility to be "harsh" and "too busy dealing with their own drama" — something that almost certainly increases the chances of additional abuse and neglect. Where can these elders turn to if their caretakers are ignoring them? The answer for many is nowhere, and they are left to cry out helplessly as their livelihood slowly fades away.
In the time my grandmother spent in that nursing home, there was never a moment when my family and I visited where the patients wore happy faces. And when my grandmother passed away in that facility while under lockdown, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was solely due to natural causes or her cause of death had roots in abuse and neglect. I still wonder to this day.
No one should be afraid to grow old.
No one should be afraid of their caretakers.
No one should have to feel the crippling feeling of grief solely due to the neglect of someone they trusted to take care of their family members.
No matter how small or how large, you can make a difference in your community.
You can protect your elders.
If your elderly family members or the elder of someone you know is subject to abuse or neglect in Michigan, you can contact the Michigan Bureau of Health Services Abuse Hotline at 800-882-6006.
For more information nationally, contact the National Elder Protection Center at 877-353-3780.
To get involved, here are petitions that you can sign:
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