Each year in the Untied States there are between 1 and 2 million people age 65 or older, that suffer injuries, mistreatment or other kinds of abuse.  This often happens at the hands of care givers, family and friends. The abuse often goes unreported in 4 out of 5 cases. Some one has to stop this abuse now before any more elders die from the abuse, and neglect. Signs of Elder Abuse are withdrawal, illnesses, bruises, bed sores, death and isloation from family and friends along with many other signs. We have 6 different forms of abuse currently reconized in the Untied States, those are psychological, financial, physical, social, neglect, and sexual.

Psychological forms are threats to the persons health or family, calling them names like worthless and stupid, etc. Financial forms are taking the persons money, valuables, property, billing for care they are not recieving. Physical forms are bruises, bed sores, illness, skin tares, dehydration, starvation,k restrants without orders from doctors or family and sometimes even then. Social forms are keeping friend and family away from the person, locking them in their room or never getting them out of bed. Neglect forms are often not feeding, not giving them enough water, not providing them with medical care, not repositioning them every two hours, not changing and checking for wetness every two hours, etc. And sexual forms such as rape, touching private areas, kissing, making them to touch someones privates, other forms of these kinds of activities.

In Indiana the law states that the state offical has to call the facility to inform them of a complaint and give them a time line of when they will be in the building. This gives the staff a chance to cover up everything that can be covered, and for the things that can not be covered, the place gets a chance to pick who the state talks to and they will tell the employee what to say about every detail that may come up.

If we do not change this law and others like it, we will continue to have deaths due to the neglect and abuse or elders and one day we will become those elders.  We all need to sign to force the state goverments to change these laws to where they are in favor or the elder and not the facility. I know of one place in Indiana where there has been over 75 deaths in a years time most of which was a result of a lack of food, drink and care, only a few was due to a health problem. I also knew one man who was only 42 that died because the nursing home he was in would not send him out for the medical care he needed for 16 hours and before the EMT's could get him the 2 mintue drive to the hospital the man died from a lack of oxygen. The same lack of oxygen that he suffered with for 16 hours. This is clearly neglect and it has to be stopped! Please join me in stopping this abuse and neglect and lets get some tougher laws for those who do victimize someone in these ways.