Elder care in Connecticut often falls short of what it should be. Far too many seniors are the victims of abuse at the hands of home care aids or nursing homes that fail to provide an acceptable level of care. When a senior is not provided with the basic minimum level of care necessary to maintain a reasonable quality of life, the consequences can be grave. 
Problems with elder care in Connecticut include the serious risk of physical abuse, but also much more. Seniors could be harmed by chemical restraint, by emotional abuse, by financial exploitation, or by simple neglect.
When a senior faces abusive or wrongful behavior, the consequences can extend beyond the senior to family as well. Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates understands the tremendous risks of improper elder care and the massive toll that abuse and neglect can cause. Our legal team is dedicated to helping seniors and their families who are harmed. Give us a call today to find out more.
Risks of Improper Elder Care in Connecticut
Risks of improper elder care in Connecticut are grave. Seniors who are faced with improper elder care in Connecticut have a substantially increased risk of death, as compared with seniors who are not the victims of abuse or neglect. Health Day reported on the increased risk of harm to seniors who are abuse victims. The risk of death for a senior affected by any kind of abuse, including emotional and financial abuse, is double the chances of death as compared with the risk faced by a senior who is not abused.
Physical abuse can obviously have the most profound impact on a senior’s health. A senior who is physically harmed could experience burn injuries, broken bones, cuts, bruises, and other damage as a result of the harm visited upon him.
Other types of abuse can also cause physical and mental damage as well. For example, emotional abuse can result in depression and anxiety, and can cause loss of appetite which can lead to malnutrition. Chemical restraint, which takes the form of using antipsychotic medications to make patients more docile and easier to control, can have significant health impacts, especially on patients with dementia.
Neglect can also lead to health problems ranging from injuries if a senior falls down, to malnutrition and dehydration when seniors are not helped with eating and drinking, to bedsores when immobile patients are not moved. Some seniors have even suffered heatstroke after being left outside by careless caregivers in the hot sun for hours on end.
Remedies for Improper Elder Care in Connecticut
Elder abuse and neglect are illegal. If you are being abused or if you suspect that someone you care about is being abused, you need to take appropriate legal action. You should contact an elder care Connecticut lawyer who can help you to investigate and document the abuse and report it to the appropriate law enforcement officials and state agencies.
An attorney can also provide you with legal assistance in holding abusive caregivers accountable, and in taking legal action against the nursing homes that employ them. A nursing home can be legally liable and made to pay for damages which are caused by staff members who fail in performing their official work duties to an acceptable standard. Homes can be accountable for both abuse and neglect, and are sometimes also liable on the basis of their own negligence- such as when they failed to train staff members adequately.
Many nursing home admissions agreements contain arbitration clauses restricting the rights of abuse victims and their families to file civil personal injury lawsuits. This means an attorney may have to help you recover compensation in arbitration if litigation is not an option for you.
An experienced attorney can also provide assistance into researching options for nursing homes to try to ensure that no abuse or neglect occur in the first place.
Getting Help from an Elder Care Connecticut Lawyer
Prevention of improper elder care is the best approach, and Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates provides help creating an incapacity plan and nursing home plan so you will be prepared in case something happens to you. Making advanced plans gives you more time to be informed about a nursing home or caregiver so you don’t make bad choices when a medical emergency necessitates immediate action. You can download our free estate planning worksheet to find out more about how you can make advanced plans in case you require care.
Our legal team can also help to deal with situations when improper care in Connecticut causes harm. To learn more about the services we can offer in these situations, and with all matters related to elder law issues, give us a call at 860-548-1000 or contact us online today.
Mr. Horowitz was awarded his Juris Doctor degree with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law. While attending law school, Mr. Horowitz received the American Jurisprudence Award in Legal Ethics and the Nathan Burkan Award.
After graduation from law school, Mr. Horowitz continued his legal education at New York University School of Law where he received a Post Doctorate Law Degree in Taxation. He has also recently received a national achievement award.
Mr. Horowitz is admitted to practice before all the state courts in the State of Connecticut and the United States District Court.
Mr. Horowitz was selected for Super Lawyers in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
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