Every day, families across the nation place loved ones in the care of nursing homes. They trust these facilities to provide a safe, nurturing environment and quality care.
Yet almost daily, news reports tell disturbing stories of physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse and neglect suffered by nursing home patients. According to a federal government study, 30 percent of U.S. nursing homes were cited for almost 9,000 cases of abuse between January 1999 and January 2001. And this may be an understatement of the problem, since incidents of abuse and neglect often go unreported.
The problem of nursing home abuse and neglect will not go away in the foreseeable future. As the baby boom generation ages, the demand for nursing home care continues to grow. The nearly 17,000 nursing homes in the United States currently care for 1.6 million residents—and that number is expected to quadruple to 6.6 million residents by 2050. These staggering numbers will dramatically increase the pressure on a system already crippled by staff shortages, poor working conditions, lack of supervision and inadequate training.