When Illinois residents place their loved ones in the care of a nursing home facility, they trust that they will be well taken care of. However, a nationwide evaluation of nursing home care rated Illinois as having some of the worst facilities in the country. In some cases, nursing home neglect attorneys Illinois have seen elderly residents who are severely neglected or abused. As people struggle to understand why issues of nursing home abuse and neglect exist in the first place, advocates for the elderly population strive to find a solution to the ongoing problem.

A failing grade

The study conducted by Families for Better Care, a nonprofit advocacy group for elderly Americans, complied federal inspection data from nursing home complaints, inspections and staffing reports from 2012, and graded them according to the quality of patient care they provided to their residents. According to CBS News, Illinois was not the only state to receive a failing grade from the comprehensive evaluation. New York, Nevada, Iowa, Michigan, New Mexico, Indiana, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Missouri were also cited for nursing home abuse and negligence.

In a recent case, the daughter of a 93-year-old woman quickly moved her mother from a nursing home in Alton to a rehabilitation center, after she found multiple bruises and bedsores on her mother’s arms and thighs. According to The Telegraph, the elderly woman’s daughter had allegedly complained about the nursing home attendants, and the aids supposedly reacted to the complaints by treating the elderly woman in a harsh manner. The woman was left to lie in her own feces and urine for such a time, that she developed a grapefruit-sized bedsore. The elderly woman, who is mentally sharp and alert, told the family that the aids got right into her face and pointed to their nametags to ensure she knew who they were. Sadly, nursing home neglect attorneys in Illinois see these kinds of stories often.

Providing a solution

Nursing homes provide daily medical and residential care to more than 1.5 million elderly people in America who are no longer able to live independently, as reported by CBS News. This number is expected to increase substantially over the next decade as the baby boomer population continues to age. In Illinois, and in many other states across the country, there is currently a lack of properly trained healthcare workers in nursing home facilities, leading to insufficient resources and an increased risk of nursing home abuse and neglect.

Before people consider admitting their loved ones into a nursing home facility, they should do their research. Nursing home neglect attorneys in Illinois may represent people who have been taken advantage of in a nursing home setting, and may be able to get compensation for medical injuries, pain and emotional trauma.