No one wants to think of their beloved elderly loved one in a nursing home, but senior care facilities are often the only way for them to receive the round-the-clock care they may require. Nursing homes are meant to be safe and comfortable places for their residents, and most are. But nursing home facilities and staff don’t always live up to appropriate standards.
About 1.5 million people live in nursing homes in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 10 percent of the elderly (ages 60 and older)—as many as 5,000,000 elders—are victims of abuse and neglect in nursing homes across the United States.
Of course, that statistic doesn’t account for the many cases that go unreported each year. Sadly, experts believe that these figures are underrepresented, since many elder abuse victims are unable or unwilling to report their abuse.
