San Diego Memory Care Home Neglect

There are many different types of circumstances in which older adults require care in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities in Southern California. Sometimes seniors experience physical injuries, such as broken hips, that limit their mobility and result in the need for care with certain activities of daily living.

In other circumstances, an older adult may have been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia and may require help in an assisted-living facility that is specifically intended to serve older adults with dementia and other memory and cognitive issues. When a memory care home fails to provide the quality of care for which it is legally responsible and a resident at the facility suffers harm, it may be possible to file a claim or lawsuit against the facility for negligence or abuse (malpractice). An experienced San Diego memory care home neglect lawyer at our firm can speak with you today about your elderly loved one’s situation and the possibility of filing a claim for compensation.

The term “assisted-living facility,” or sometimes simply “assisted living,” is a broad term that refers to a wide range of facilities in California that provide certain types of non-medical assistance. Memory care homes, or memory care facilities, are essentially a specialized type of assisted-living facility or residential care facility for the elderly (RCFE) designed to assist residents with particular activities of daily living, or ADLs. In particular, memory care homes or facilities are often intended for seniors who need assistance and have Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. In most cases, memory care homes are intended to have space for a smaller number of residents than larger assisted-living facilities so that residents can receive frequent care.

What are the types of ADLs that memory care homes assist residents with? Typically, the following are common forms of assistance:

Like other assisted-living facilities, memory care homes do not provide medical care.

How does neglect happen at a memory care home in San Diego? Just like at other types of RCFEs or assisted-living facilities, as well as nursing homes in Southern California, residents of memory care homes can suffer injuries resulting from the following types of abuse or neglect, according to the National Council on Aging (NCOA):

• Injuries caused by falls;
• Wandering or elopement from the building (or the safe area withing the building);
• Physical abuse, which may have signs such as cuts, burns, bruises, or broken bones;
• Psychological abuse, which may have signs such as unexplained fear, anxiety, or depression;
• Passive neglect, which can result in injuries like bone fractures from falls or bed sores;
• Sexual abuse, which may result in signs such as unexplained sexually transmitted infections, torn clothing or undergarments, bruising, and bleeding; and
• Willful deprivation, which may result in malnourishment, dehydration, infections, and other injuries.

If you have concerns about an elderly loved one in a memory care home, you should get in touch with one of the San Diego memory care home neglect lawyers at our firm as soon as you can for assistance. Contact the Southern California Nursing Home Law Group today.