While many senior citizens remain active and independent until the very end of their lives, others may suffer from a slow decline in health that leaves them vulnerable to cruel or simply careless treatment by others. When this cavalier treatment comes at the hands of those who are supposed to be providing care, it may be classified as elder neglect or medical negligence, depending on the circumstances. Either can be dangerous, and both demand an immediate response when they are discovered, but the familiar proverb “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” applies. Family members can play a crucial role in preventing as well as addressing medical negligence and elder neglect. To learn more or to seek professional help in improving your loved one’s situation, call 505-218-9949 to schedule a consultation with one of the New Mexico elder care attorneys at Erin Marshall Law.
What Is Elder Neglect?
Elder neglect occurs when the person responsible for a dependent elderly person’s day-to-day care falls short in one or more aspects of that responsibility, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Elder neglect does not generally apply in situations where a senior citizen is self-sufficient; the term is most commonly used for neglect in the care of elderly individuals who require round-the-clock or near-continuous care, for reasons of mental or physical impairment (or both).
Are Elder Neglect and Elder Abuse the Same Thing?
Search results for elder neglect will return many mentions of elder abuse, and many resources on elder abuse will also address neglect. As a result, it can be easy to feel confused about the difference between elder abuse vs. elder neglect.
Comparison to Mistreatment of Children
To clarify, you may find it helpful to think of the relationship between elder neglect and elder abuse as being a little like the relationship between child abuse and child neglect. Many abused children are neglected, and some neglected children are also abused – but abuse and neglect refer to separate categories of mistreatment. Although they may frequently overlap in a given family’s dynamic, abuse and neglect involve distinct actions (or inactions) and are recognized by distinct signs. The differentiation between the two may enable outside parties, such as social workers, to classify exactly how mistreatment is occurring and narrow down the types of harm a child is suffering. The distinction can help determine whether there is a plausible threat of violence, and in charting the range of remedies that may be appropriate.
Implications for Understanding Elder Neglect
These points all apply to the differences between elder abuse and elder neglect, as well. However, there is a key difference: Whereas there are systems, like teacher concerns, for flagging the possibility of neglect or abuse when it comes to children, there are far fewer “guardrails” in place to identify potential elder abuse. In the absence of systemic safeguards, it becomes even more important for family members to keep a watchful eye on their loved ones.
Concerns Specific to Elder Neglect
One feature that does not typically appear in cases involving children is missed medication or missing doses of medication. Neglectful caregivers may run late administering needed medications, or ignore some doses altogether. The opposite can also sometimes be true: Caretakers who do not want to be bothered with an elderly person’s demands on their time and patience may administer excessive medications, primarily in the form of sedatives or tranquilizers, in an attempt to make the individual easier to manage. Both medication-related concerns can quickly become life-threatening and demand immediate attention.
What Is the Difference Between Medical Negligence and Neglect?
Elder neglect, especially in the context of nursing homes and other paid caregiving scenarios, is a real concern, and family members are right to practice vigilance on behalf of their aging loved ones. However, inadequate care in healthcare settings can be equally dangerous. Hospitals particularly bring into play an important set of considerations related to medical negligence, as the obligations of healthcare professionals toward their patients differ from the responsibilities others may have toward an elderly individual in need of care. Understanding the differences between negligence and neglect may help families to identify the types of issues they need to watch for and address, as well as the types of resources that may prove most useful.
What Elder Neglect Looks Like in Homes and Hospitals
Many of the characteristics associated with elder neglect when the individual in question resides in their own home, a nursing home, or the home of a relative who bears the primary responsibility for their care also occur in hospitals and related healthcare settings. Inadequate nutrition may show up, in both contexts, as sustained weight loss. Lapses in personal hygiene and the maintenance of bed linens are also common signs that something is wrong. However, in medical settings, it can be easy for the loss of weight to be dismissed as an effect of the illness that has caused the individual to be admitted to the facility. On the other hand, neglect at home that leads to dangerous falls, potentially causing injuries whose treatment may also be neglected, can be easier for families to overlook and for caregivers to disguise.
A distinguishing feature of elder neglect is that it consists of things left undone, and does not necessarily imply any particular intent on the part of the person who might have been expected to carry out those tasks. Elder neglect can easily occur in situations where the responsibility for an individual’s care is shared among several members of a group, whether that means the members of the person’s own family or the workers on a professional care team. One important implication of this common scenario is that elder neglect can often occur as the result of caregiver overwhelm or as the result of chronic, unrecognized failures in communication between those who need to coordinate care. Neglect can even occur in situations where each caregiver assumes that others are handling important tasks, leading to a situation in which the oversight is not recognized until it has already caused unnecessary suffering.
Medical Negligence and Malpractice
Although neglect and negligence plainly share linguistic roots, they have distinct meanings when it comes to discussions of elder care. Negligence is a legal term that requires specific elements to be proven before the party accused of negligence can be held liable. Those elements may or may not all be present in a particular instance of elder neglect, and elder neglect may sometimes occur even when no one involved can be shown to have acted negligently.
Practical Tips for Differentiating Neglect vs. Negligence
On a practical level, the differences between elder neglect and medical negligence can often be broken down according to two main factors: relationship to the vulnerable person and timeframe. While these general trends may not hold up in every set of circumstances, they can form a useful shorthand for helping concerned family members get an initial idea to begin investigating a loved one’s situation. With that caveat in mind, here are some ways to think about negligence vs. neglect:
- Relationship to vulnerable individual: Neglect often happens in the context of inadequate care by unpaid family members, well-meaning or otherwise. Neglect may also apply to some instances of in-home “sitters” who lack specialized training. Negligence is more likely to come into play in the context of a professional responsibility. For medical negligence specifically, establishing a clear professional responsibility is usually a foundational step on which the rest of a case may be based.
- Timeframe: While neglect can sometimes be an emergency and negligence can sometimes consist of repeated failures that together form a pattern of disregard, it is more common for neglect to develop gradually and for negligence to describe a failure to act with the appropriate degree of care in a specific situation. Sometimes the timeframe can play an important role if you need to seek legal remedy on your loved one’s behalf, as the duration of maltreatment may impact the compensation owed to the elderly individual. A clear timeline of behavior and events may also be helpful in establishing the facts of the case.
Speaking with an attorney at Erin Marshall Law may help you to clarify the factors that have the most impact in your specific circumstances.
What Can Family Members Do?
Family members play an indispensable role in protecting their vulnerable loved ones against both elder neglect and medical negligence. Frequent visits, particularly unannounced, and a watchful eye can often go a long way toward securing the quality of your relative’s care. Whether the concerns are elder neglect from nursing home staff or in-home caregivers, or failures to treat a vulnerable individual’s medical condition in accordance with the established standard of practice, your vigilance is the first line of defense in preventing medical negligence as well as elder neglect. Family members’ prompt intervention can also be one of the most effective tools for putting a loved one’s care back on track when neglect or negligence has occurred. When elder abuse is present, family members can also report the abuse to the relevant authorities.
Discuss Your Options With an Albuquerque Lawyer
In some instances, family members may unfortunately not recognize the signs of elder neglect or medical negligence until a vulnerable relative has already suffered harm. In these situations, it may be possible to recover compensation, which can be especially helpful when addressing an elderly individual’s circumstances effectively comes at a substantial economic cost. Call Erin Marshall Law today at 505-218-9949 and schedule a private consultation so we can discuss your concerns.
