The deaths of hundreds of seniors at adult family homes may have been the result of neglect or abuse, but were never investigated.Some fell to the floor and bled to death internally. Others choked on food and suffocated. Still others languished for weeks as bedsores burrowed to the bone, ultimately killing them.
In neighborhoods throughout Seattle and across the state, hundreds have died prematurely, many in avoidable misery, while living at state-licensed adult family homes.
A Seattle Times investigation has uncovered at least 236 deaths that indicate neglect or abuse in these homes but were not reported to the state or investigated.
Dozens of suspicious deaths occurred in adult homes with long histories of violations, including some whose owners employed caregivers with little training or forged credentials.
In the first accounting of such deaths, The Times identified these cases by analyzing death certificates of 4,703 Washington residents who died at adult homes from 2003 through 2008.
Adult homes are a less-regulated, less-expensive elder-care option than nursing homes, and are touted as providing personalized care in cozy, neighborhood settings
But The Times also found that adult-home deaths indicating neglect occur at strikingly higher rates than comparable deaths at nursing homes:
• Pressure-sore deaths in adult homes occur at a rate more than 3.5 times higher.
• The rate of deaths from falls is four times higher.
• For choking deaths, the rate is 15 times higher.
Adult family homes are regulated by Washington's Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), which licenses home owners to rent out spare bedrooms and provide long-term care for up to six seniors.
Full Article and Source:
Seniors for Sale - Death in Adult Homes Hidden and Ignored
See Also:
How to Prevent Pressure Sores
5 comments:
The guilt lies with the State!
This is a big election year. Come on representatives, pick up this cause and run with it.
Thank you Seattle Times for sticking on this important story and keeping the light shining bright. Thank you.
And thank you, NASGA, for following it as well as all the stories posted to this blog.
There you have it. These incidents of abuse and neglect at group homes weren't investigated because unfortunately, seniors don't have worth in our society. They don't matter. What a sad state of affairs for our country.
Currently there is no protection for seniors and the vulnerable!! They are abused in private homes, group homes, ALF's, nursing homes and althymer units. Then of course there is the option for "court appointed protection" which consists of a perfect stranger who cares nothing about you, in charge. The court appointed strangers are protected by the court while they bounce you back & forth like a "beach ball" between attorneys, courts and their own professional fees. You're left exploited to die alone as they promptly move on to the next target.
That's the way they do it in the "Sunshine State"
I speak with experience!
God Help America!
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