The country is rapidly aging and growing numbers of Boston residents are living in nursing homes. Nursing homes are entrusted to care for some of the most vulnerable members of our society but there are times when nursing homes fail to live up to their responsibilities. Unfortunately elder abuse and nursing home neglect are a widespread problem and approximately one in 10 senior citizens will face some sort of elder abuse during their lifetime.

Experts say that the numbers of senior citizens will only continue to rise and some believe that this massive demographic change will result in more abuse cases in the next few years.

Laura Mosqueda, co-director of the National Center on Elder Abuse and director of the geriatrics program at the University of California-Irvine School of Medicine, called the population age shifts a "recipe for disaster" created by simultaneous events. "The fastest-growing segment are people over 85 and the percentage of people with Alzheimer's, dementia is at an all-time high," she said.

There are many types of possible personal injuries which can arise out of nursing home neglect including bedsores and pressure ulcers. Bedsores commonly occur when people are confined to beds or wheelchairs. Bedsores, also called pressure sores and pressure ulcers, result from prolonged pressure on the skin. Bedsores can be hard to treat and can get infected, which is why the presence of bedsores of often a sign that a nursing home is not doing its job to ensure the health and proper care of its residents.

In our next post we will discuss more facets nursing home abuse.

Source: USA Today, "As USA grays, elder abuse risk and need for shelters grow," Haya El Nasser, Jan. 10, 2012