Movie Will Bring Home Nursing Home Negligence in Milwaukee
Filmmaker looks into negligence at assisted living facilities
On behalf of Milwaukee personal injury attorney Ric Domnitz of Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. posted in Nursing Home Abuse on Tuesday, August 6, 2013.
Adult children want the best for their aging parents. They want their parents to be as comfortable and well-cared for as possible. This is why many put their loved ones in assisted-living facilities, honestly believing they are getting their parents the care they need and deserve.
Many times this is the case and aging parents go on to live a comfortable life in the facility. However, there are certainly also those horror stories in the news involving residents and substandard care.
Recently, an ABC news article focused on assisted living facilities and “memory units” where some residents with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia end up going to live. Filmmaker A.C. Thompson collaborated with a reporter and PBS’ “Frontline” to take a closer look at some of these facilities and explore those times when things went wrong.
Take for example the case of pro-football Hall of Famer George McAfee. The former running back was in an assisted living facility when he wandered off unsupervised, opened a cabinet that was supposed to be locked and drank some industrial-strength detergent. He ended up dying days after the incident and his family filed a lawsuit against the company running the facility.
Emeritus Corporation ended up settling with the family.
Sadly though, McAfee’s story is just one of many involving residents wandering off, repeatedly falling down and just not being properly cared for.
Thompson said part of the problem is that workers at these facilities are paid minimum wage for a job with a high burnout rate. This means there is a constantly revolving group of caregivers.
Additionally, he points to lose regulations, low staff numbers, limited training for staff and profits being placed over people as all contributing to the nursing home abuse and negligence problem.
For caregivers, even hearing of these issues can be heartbreaking. This is why it is important to put in the time to research a care facility beforehand. However, in situations where the abuse has already happened — or there is reason to believe abuse is taking place — a Milwaukee personal injury attorney with experience handling nursing home neglect should be contacted.