Nursing home residents and their families fear possible retaliation

When you can no longer care for your aging parents in Ohio, there’s sometimes no other option than placing them in nursing homes. While many nursing homes provide adequate care, others don’t. A recent study aimed to uncover why some residents and their families fear reporting nursing homes to the proper authorities.

The data behind this new report

The Long Term Care Community Coalition investigated 100 complaints from nursing home residents throughout the United States from 2017 to 2022. As researchers viewed complaint-related data, they noticed a disturbing trend. Some residents feared reporting instances of nursing home neglect and abuse out of retaliation-related fears.

A review of complaints showed that some nursing home residents dealt with alleged sexual abuse, staff leaving them in soiled bedding or clothes and acts of aggression from staff members. While inadequate nursing home care remains a growing problem, this new report shows that residents aren’t the only ones facing threats from nursing home staff. Some family members also received threats of retaliation from nursing home workers if families reported these staff.

Potential remedies for the concern of retaliation

Experts are working to propose ideas to stop poor treatment and retaliation fears in nursing home facilities. Some believe that these problems stem from understaffed nursing homes and underpaid staff. Other experts are calling for current staff to receive more training in handling difficult or stressful patient-related situations.

With nursing home residents typically unable to leave these places, the potential abuse of these vulnerable people and their families remains a serious problem. However, fears of retaliation could mean that nursing home abuse and neglect is far more common than anyone realized.