Nursing home abuse is more common than people think. It can come in the form of physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and financial abuse. Both staff and other nursing home residents can be the abusers. The most recent data from The National Center for Victims of Crime shows that over 50% of nursing home staff has admitted to some form of abuse against their residents, while nearly 25% of over 190,500 complaints against nursing homes in 2012 were categorized as resident-on-resident abuse. Furthermore, the National Center for Elder Abuse approximates that less than 5% of individuals older than 65 report their abuse to the police.
It’s important to report nursing home abuse when you know or even suspect it is happening to a loved one. Not only can you prevent it from prolonging and causing or worsening health issues, but you can stop or prevent other nursing home residents from having to suffer through it as well.
In Oklahoma, if you think or know that nursing home abuse is occurring in a particular facility, you can contact Long Term Care Services at 405-271-6868, or email them at LtcComplaints@health.ok.gov. You can also contact the Oklahoma Department of Health toll-free at 800-747-8419 to leave complaints, or contact the nursing facility’s county phone number for Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) to report abuse (which you can find here based on your county and district).
If you need further assistance with reporting nursing home abuse, please also contact OK Eldercare for legal advice.
