According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, several common characteristics appear in nursing home abuse and other negligence cases.
Those characteristics include:
- Lack of social support.
- Dementia. It is estimated that about half of all individuals suffering from dementia also suffer from some form of abuse. Currently, about half of all individuals over the age of 85 are suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease or other forms of dementia.
- Experience with trauma or abuse.
- Poor physical health and functional impairments.
- Being female. Women are more likely to be subjected to abuse and neglect in nursing homes than men are. This is particularly true when the woman has a disability. Disabled women in nursing home facilities are far more likely to experience interpersonal violence than women without disabilities.
- Lower-income or poverty.