The different forms of nursing home abuse include:
- Physical abuse:
This includes the infliction of physical harm on a nursing home resident, such as slapping, punching, kicking, and use of excessive restraint. It can also include the withholding of prescribed medications, or the administration of prohibited medications.
- Emotional abuse:
This is defined as any deliberate causing of anxiety, anguish, fear or other undesirable mental states. Any spoken communication that intentionally causes an elder unreasonable emotional stress can also be considered abuse.
- Financial abuse:
This happens when the assets or the property of an elder are illegally or improperly used. Financial abuse may include forging an elder’s signature, taking cash from an elder, signing the elder’s checks, coercing him/her to sign a document, stealing his/her possessions or money, etc.
- Sexual abuse:
This refers to having non-consensual sex with an elder. Any sexual contact with a person who is not able to provide consent can also be termed as sexual abuse. Unwanted touching, sexual assault, coerced nudity, and so do my are all forms of sexual abuse.