As the holidays approach, countless San Diego residents will share the seasonable spirit alongside their family, friends, and loved ones--many of which are elder and may reside in a nursing home. For others, the holidays offer a once-a-year opportunity to check in on the health and wellbeing of the loved elders in our lives. The best way to ensure that your elderly friend or family member is safe, happy, and healthy is to equip your self with the appropriate facts and information. The Center for Elder Abuse has compiled a helpful fact sheet to review as you venture home for the holidays and spend time with your loved elders. Here are a few tips, signs, and questions to consider that may help you determine whether the home aid, nurse, or nursing home staff is properly caring for your elderly loved one:
- Do you notice any significant changes in how he or she is spending money?
- Does your loved one seem afraid of or hesitant around his or her caregiver, roommate, or nursing home staff member?
- Does he or she appear thin, frail, overly tired, or have any unexplained cuts, bedsores, bruises, or injuries?
- Does your loved elder appear to have poor basic hygiene; are their hair or nails overgrown, do they appear unshowered; do they wear the same clothes over the course of several days?
- Does your loved one have easy access to their everyday assistance items--such as glasses, hearing aids, dental hygiene tools, walkers or wheelchairs, medications, etc.?
- Is there evidence--mail, e-mails, or phone messages--that indicates he or she has been the target of solicitations, aggressive telemarketers, online/by-mail contests, or other scams?
- Has he or she suddenly stopped participating in a long-time activity, club, or hobby they were once devoted to?
- Does your loved one appear lonely, depressed, or otherwise withdrawn or isolated from their friends, neighbors, and/or community?
- Are your loved one's pets nourished, clean, and cared for?