Mental Abuse of the Elderly

When CCRC administrators don’t answer residents’ phone calls for a month, can this be classified as mental abuse?

By Lillian L. Hyatt, MSW, Resident of a CCRC and AARP Policy Specialist on CCRCs

I feel it is important to explain to my readers why it is urgent that SB338 (Morrell) be passed in the 2016 legislative session. This deals with the mental abuse of elders by caregivers. At present, attorneys are wary of taking on such cases because there is no law to support such cases. Mental abuse of elders is not a new issue so why is there no law to specifically protect the elderly?

In my opinion it is because the industry providing care to the elderly is so fearful of such a law that they are determined to defeat such needed legislation.

Do I believe that caregivers are bad people? NO. However, they must be educated as to what mental abuse is and be made aware that if they practice such behavior that there are severe penalties. I am convinced that having such a law in place would have a beneficial impact on elders’ care. I have made a study of how even doctors, nurses, CCRC administrators and other caregivers threaten and abuse elders in their care and suffer no consequences. Elders are told to “forget the abuse and move on.”

I want to share some history with my readers about a courageous and frustrated district attorney, while he was working as an elder abuse prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office in Placer County in 2010.  He received a report from the Roseville Police Department that involved several residents in an elder care facility. The report concerned one of the patients who was suffering from shingles, an extremely painful ailment. She was prescribed pain medication. A nurse in charge of her care withheld that medication and kept it for her own use. Withholding this medication resulted in significant pain for an extended period of time. This prosecutor believed that this unprofessional behavior rose to the level of felony conduct. In my opinion, the nurse could have made this patient agree to almost any fraud including giving up anything she had in order to relieve her pain.

I agree that Jim Deslaurier is correct when he says, “Members of our Greatest Generation deserve our utmost protection from pain and mental suffering and sometimes that warrants a felony charge.”

CCRC administrators have perfected a cynical method of frustrating residents with legitimate complaints. They ignore all attempts to get a return call. Nor do they reply to written communications. Sometimes when they do reply, they put in their letter false information and then hope it will be in the record as fact. The objective is to get a resident angry enough to express themselves in a way that could be deemed offensive. Couples with methods of stripping the right to sue for just cause out of legislation protects administrators who inflict mental abuse on residents in their care.

Jack Cumming phrased it most eloquently when he referred to leading age lobbyist Eric Dowdy telling providers who were members of this organization, “I am happy to report that the private right of action provisions were stripped from AB 2171 on Friday (August 22)! The bill now looks like something we may support, but we are evaluating all the recent amendments. Thank you for all your letters, phone calls, and personal visits to the capital to voice your opinion…”

Mr. Dowdy’s efforts did not prevail. Pauline Mosher, CANHR program manager and a long-term care advocate wrote in The Advocate that “Lillian is blind and disabled and did all her work from her apartment at the CCRC where she lives. Lillian spoke with staff at the Governor’s office and called every committee member to put the pressure on legislators when the bill was stuck in suspension. AB2171 was signed into law and will be effective January 1, 2015. Lillian has been an invaluable advocate for many years and even more so during this past year’s legislative campaign.”

SB338 has provisions that include jail sentences for providers who violate the law. Payment is given to residents who are excluded from the dining room of a Continuing Care Residential Facility (CCRC) in Virginia. In addition, residents could collect substantial sums for being the victims of discrimination under the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I want to share with my readers just what type of cases would be covered by SB338. Recently, I received a report from a reliable source about pain medication being withheld from a 100-year -old patient by a caregiver whose religious beliefs forbade the use of drugs even when prescribed by an MD. In this instance, the caregiver was a Jehovah’s Witness. The patient was in agony for 12 hours until the next caregiver arrived and administered the prescribed medication. I believe that this caregiver should have her license revoked and charged with a felony as well. The agency that supplied such a caregiver should be held accountable as well.

What accounts for a society that allows seniors to be subjected to such treatment? Over a period of many years I have observed a culture of contempt for the elderly in both the long-term care executives as well as other staff.

The general public is indifferent as well. I have a theory which addresses that issue: Some years back I wrote a column which was published in California News on this subject. The title of the column was “How Can CCRC Residents be Protected from Elder Abuse (in particular psychological and emotional abuse.)”

Another one of my articles published by California News was on the subject of bullying. With SB338, I am hopeful we can finally bring this pernicious, ugly practice to an end. Mental abuse by a physician employed in the CCRC of a patient in the skilled nursing facility. A patient required an injection at 2:00 a.m. The RN on duty called the physician to confirm. The following day the MD showed up in the patient’s room and began to berate her for disturbing his sleep. He claimed he could not fall asleep after the RN’s call. This humiliated the patient. When the patient complained, she was told to forget it.

Professor Hyatt is an AARP California policy advisor. Professor Hyatt can be seen on YouTube on the USC School of Social Work website at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMrC6o6Rm04