Troubling Statistics Show Higher Rates of Care Home Neglect During COVID-19

Advocates for the elderly say these cases show clear signs of care home neglect.

Photo: Matthias Zomer, Pexels

(SALEM, Ore.) - The COVID-19 pandemic has been a terrible crisis, the likes of which the world has never seen before. Since first being discovered back in 2019, the virus has gone on to spread all over the globe, leaving devastation in its wake and causing the deaths of more than 3 million people, including over half a million Americans.

One of the sectors in which the pandemic has done the most damage is in care and nursing homes.

As the virus began to spread and its full risks began to be understood and acknowledged in early 2020, many countries attempted to put protections in place for care home residents and staff, but the virus still took a serious toll on these individuals in a lot of countries worldwide, including the US.

However, while a lot of the focus in recent times regarding nursing homes has been on limiting the spread of COVID-19 and trying to keep residents safe from the virus, recent statistics have shone some light on the shocking fact that rates of neglect have actually risen in many homes since the pandemic began, leading to a lot of additional deaths and tragic stories for those concerned.

A Tragic Trend

These stories tell of residents being left unfed and thirsty, dealing with painful bedsores and dirty diapers for hours on end, failing to receive the regular care and attention they would expect and deserve.

In many cases, these stories end tragically, with lonely and painful deaths for residents who weren't able to be looked after correctly.

One analyst, Stephen Kaye of the Institute on Health and Aging at the University of California, explained that the healthcare system in America "operates... on the edge", adding that when a crisis of such a scale as the COVID-19 pandemic occurs, the system simply finds itself unable to cope with such high levels of pressure and demand.

This has proven to be especially true in nursing homes, where there haven't been enough staff members to cater to the needs of the residents during these challenging times.

With staff effectively out of action with the virus themselves or overwhelmed with COVID-related duties, it's only logical that the reports of care home abuse and neglect have become more frequent in recent times.

In-Depth Analysis

There are various conclusions that can be drawn from this, with the most obvious one being that as the virus spread, the pressure on care home workers was multiplied to such a degree that they found themselves unable to cope.

They became so busy looking after residents who had the virus and many of them were also getting infected themselves, leaving teams understaffed and struggling to keep up.

This is in keeping with reports and analysis conducted throughout the entire pandemic, with countless articles and exposes revealing that care homes across the country have been seriously understaffed for a long time.

There were even cases in which homes had to essentially shut down and evacuate residents elsewhere because such a large percentage of their own staff tested positive for the virus.

The Terrible Toll

He had managed to avoid viral infection as the pandemic spread, but due to a lack of care, found himself reduced to a weight below 100 lbs and infected with E. coli. It is believed that he choked on his own food and died of aspiration pneumonia.

Carolyn Best at the Gurwin Jewish Nursing Home in New York is another example. In her early days and weeks at the home, Best had enjoyed life there, partaking in many of the activities and clubs and getting involved with the social side of care home life.

Tragically, when the virus started to spread, Best's daughter, Dawn, saw her mother deteriorate and watched as dozens of the home's residents were killed by the virus. Best didn't actually catch coronavirus, but still died of dehydration due to neglect.

Contrasting Opinions

While advocates for the elderly argue that these cases show clear signs of care home neglect, nursing home groups dispute these claims.

The American Health Care Association, for example, claimed that reports of neglect are pure "speculation", with the group's Chief Medical Officer, David Gifford, saying that staffing levels have actually risen in many states and that the reports of tragic deaths have not been particularly "widespread".

In response, LeadingAge, a care home representation charity, defied Gifford's claims, maintaining that the staffing issues are very much real and have caused a lot of problems for care homes around America.

Katie Smith, the organization's president, called reports "horrific and heartbreaking" while expressing her "hope that these tragedies will wake up politicians and the public.”

Final Word

Source: Salem-News.com Special Features Dept.