John Whitehead's Commentary
Nursing Home Abuse--A Sign of America's Moral Decline
In Oklahoma, an elderly resident in a nursing home asked a nursing aide for her medication. As the aide handed her the medicine, she said, "I hope you choke on them."
In Missouri, an 80-year-old nursing home resident was locked in a bathroom and employees hit him with a belt and knocked him in the head with a heavy book.
In San Francisco, state inspectors found hundreds of ants crawling over the body and in and out of the mouth of an 83-year-old nursing home resident.
These incidents are just a sampling of the widespread abuse that a congressional investigation discovered in nursing homes around the country. In the year 2000 alone, some 16 percent of the nation's 17,000 nursing homes were cited for abuse. In 1,601 homes, the abuse was so severe that it put residents at risk of serious injury or death.
In actuality, the problems could be even worse. Nursing home investigators say that abuse often is not reported--or detected--meaning the abuse could be even more widespread than these already disturbing numbers reveal.
Some members of Congress are trying to address the problem. In response to the congressional report on the crisis in care for the elderly, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) introduced the Nursing Home Quality Protection Act of 2001. It would increase funding to nursing homes, set strict sanctions on homes that don't meet proper standards and establish mandatory nurse staffing levels. It would also ensure that the public has easier access via the Internet to records on levels of abuse at nursing homes nationwide.
Unfortunately, the wheels of bureaucracy are turning at a snail's pace--much too slowly for those already in the final years of their lives. The legislation proposed by Rep. Waxman last July has yet to leave the House of Representatives. In the meantime, reports continue to surface that the Bush Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are considering proposals that would weaken--rather than strengthen--protections for vulnerable nursing home residents.
Stricter regulation is one way to curb the abuse, and it's a measure that deserves our support. Nevertheless, there is an even more basic, fundamental question at the heart of this issue that no congressional action can reach. And that is our society's loss of respect for the elderly and unwillingness to take the time and energy necessary to care for them properly.
At one time, grandfathers, grandmothers and elderly parents were the anchors of healthy families. They provided the wisdom and experienced guidance to the younger generation that kept the family grounded. Young people looked to the elderly for advice and relied on them in times of trial to provide seasoned answers to complex issues.
Today the elderly are no longer held in places of high esteem. Instead, our culture is obsessed with youth, neglecting all things older and wiser. Instead of revering the elderly as symbols of respect, they are targeted in the next big youth wave marketing campaign--namely, Viagra.
This breakdown of respect for the family can be linked to the breakdown of the family in general. As the recent census numbers revealed, the traditional family is represented less in American society than at any time in our history. The further we move from the traditional construction of two parent families, the further we remove the elderly from their traditional roles in young people's lives.
Thus, without any connection between the younger and older generations, the elderly are passed off into nursing homes--since the younger generation isn't willing to care for those with whom they have no relationship.
This attitude trickles over into the care the elderly receive in nursing homes. In many homes, employees see that the residents have no visitors. They perceive the lack of appreciation from the rest of society toward the elderly. And so they treat the elderly in their care according to these perceptions--they abuse them, knowing that no one cares.
Congressional action can address the symptoms. But it will take a more fundamental change to cure the disease. It starts with each one of us, caring for our parents and grandparents, treating them with the respect they deserve, and gleaning their wisdom rather than leaving it to waste in the lonely confines of a nursing home.
In Missouri, an 80-year-old nursing home resident was locked in a bathroom and employees hit him with a belt and knocked him in the head with a heavy book.
In San Francisco, state inspectors found hundreds of ants crawling over the body and in and out of the mouth of an 83-year-old nursing home resident.
These incidents are just a sampling of the widespread abuse that a congressional investigation discovered in nursing homes around the country. In the year 2000 alone, some 16 percent of the nation's 17,000 nursing homes were cited for abuse. In 1,601 homes, the abuse was so severe that it put residents at risk of serious injury or death.
In actuality, the problems could be even worse. Nursing home investigators say that abuse often is not reported--or detected--meaning the abuse could be even more widespread than these already disturbing numbers reveal.
Some members of Congress are trying to address the problem. In response to the congressional report on the crisis in care for the elderly, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) introduced the Nursing Home Quality Protection Act of 2001. It would increase funding to nursing homes, set strict sanctions on homes that don't meet proper standards and establish mandatory nurse staffing levels. It would also ensure that the public has easier access via the Internet to records on levels of abuse at nursing homes nationwide.
Unfortunately, the wheels of bureaucracy are turning at a snail's pace--much too slowly for those already in the final years of their lives. The legislation proposed by Rep. Waxman last July has yet to leave the House of Representatives. In the meantime, reports continue to surface that the Bush Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are considering proposals that would weaken--rather than strengthen--protections for vulnerable nursing home residents.
Stricter regulation is one way to curb the abuse, and it's a measure that deserves our support. Nevertheless, there is an even more basic, fundamental question at the heart of this issue that no congressional action can reach. And that is our society's loss of respect for the elderly and unwillingness to take the time and energy necessary to care for them properly.
At one time, grandfathers, grandmothers and elderly parents were the anchors of healthy families. They provided the wisdom and experienced guidance to the younger generation that kept the family grounded. Young people looked to the elderly for advice and relied on them in times of trial to provide seasoned answers to complex issues.
Today the elderly are no longer held in places of high esteem. Instead, our culture is obsessed with youth, neglecting all things older and wiser. Instead of revering the elderly as symbols of respect, they are targeted in the next big youth wave marketing campaign--namely, Viagra.
This breakdown of respect for the family can be linked to the breakdown of the family in general. As the recent census numbers revealed, the traditional family is represented less in American society than at any time in our history. The further we move from the traditional construction of two parent families, the further we remove the elderly from their traditional roles in young people's lives.
Thus, without any connection between the younger and older generations, the elderly are passed off into nursing homes--since the younger generation isn't willing to care for those with whom they have no relationship.
This attitude trickles over into the care the elderly receive in nursing homes. In many homes, employees see that the residents have no visitors. They perceive the lack of appreciation from the rest of society toward the elderly. And so they treat the elderly in their care according to these perceptions--they abuse them, knowing that no one cares.
Congressional action can address the symptoms. But it will take a more fundamental change to cure the disease. It starts with each one of us, caring for our parents and grandparents, treating them with the respect they deserve, and gleaning their wisdom rather than leaving it to waste in the lonely confines of a nursing home.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
Publication Guidelines / Reprint Permission
John W. Whitehead’s weekly commentaries are available for publication to newspapers and web publications at no charge. Please contact staff@rutherford.org to obtain reprint permission.
