What Do Baby Boomer, Hidden Camera & Nursing Home Abuse Have In Common?

In case you have been living in a cave, the reality is that the baby boomer generation is surging toward retirement age and the fact that there is a growing need to find a bigger work force to tend to the millions of boomers who will in the not too distant future need ongoing care due to age, illness or a combination of both. Baby Boomers will be facing a whole host of physical and mental frailties.

There will be huge increase in America's elderly population in the next few decades. The labor pool that has traditionally cared for these people made up mainly of woman from their mid-20s to mid-50s will hardly grow at all which will compound the problem of an existing work force that is earning low wages and has a high turnover rate.

Statistics prove that nearly 3 million people work in direct-care jobs who work mainly with the elderly as nursing assistants, home health aids and personal care aids.

Leading experts say that 1 million more health care workers will be needed in the next decade. And it gets worse. 3 million more workers will be needed by 2030 when all surviving members of the 78 million strong baby boomer generation will be older than 65!

Wages for direct-care workers as of 2005 averaged less than $10.00/hr. and one quarter or these workers have no health insurance! To make matters worse the Supreme Court as of summer 2007 ruled unanimously that the nation's 1 million home-care workers are Not entitled to overtime pay under federal law. This is a ticking time bomb for the millions of senior baby boomers who want to live at home instead of institutions.

Direct-care workers will be desperately sought after and with those low wages, many undesirable people will be hired like ex-criminals, thieves, etc. Baby Boomers will be robbed blind of their money and possessions as direct-care workers look at baby boomers as the haves and themselves as the have not's. Not only that but the boomers will not get the care needed to keep them alive.

Many facilities fail to provide the services necessary for patients to avoid physical harm, mental anguish or mental illness.

Official investigate nearly 4,500 nursing home abuse cases each year and the count keeps going up. The main reason is poor or no staff training or staff that has not been checked for having criminal backgrounds.

The biggest case found for nursing home abuse to date is an East Peoria nursing home that was fine $100,000 on Friday, 7-13-2007 for neglect and faulty care of mentally ill and elderly patients. As a result, three patients and two workers were arrested.

Police raided the East Peoria Gardens Healthcare Center in April and found evidence that mentally ill patients were out of control and elderly patients tormented.

In this investigation officials found numerous tell tale signs that elderly and mentally ill residents were falling and fatally injured, improper diagnosis, mentally ill patients choking to death on food. Numerous patients falling and later dieing from complications without and precautions put in place. In addition to nursing home patient neglect seven patients were admitted with criminal records after failing to do background checks.

Many families are now suspecting elder and baby boomer abuse and turning to technology such as advanced hidden cameras that will aid them in making sure their loved one(s) are being cared for properly by direct-care workers. But most are not.

Nanny Cameras now called Granny Cams or Hidden Cams are getting more and more sophisticated in catching nursing home abuse. Once the evidence is collected the authorities can be alerted and the workers sent to jail or imprisoned.

Seed Newsvine

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