Assisted Living Signs of Neglect

Assisted living provides residents with much more freedom and control over their lives. There are many benefits to it for people who can take this as an option over nursing home care. There are also instances where neglect becomes a problem. Assisted living signs of neglect may be a little different than those you'd expect at a nursing home, so make sure you understand what to look for.

Unmaintained Apartments

Many assisted living facilities function very much like apartment buildings. Residents have their own spaces and are largely responsible for how they are decorated. Basic maintenance will be covered by the facility, however. If you see a lot of leaking faucets, walls that need painting or dirty carpet, you may want to take a second look at the facility to see how bad it really is.

Unresponsive Staff

One of the most significant assisted living signs of neglect is a staff and administration that are unresponsive to resident needs. In the worst cases, these facilities may be operating a sort of bait and switch. The residents are promised that they'll have control over their own living spaces but the administration won't respond to their concerns. The residents will be told that they'll have medical care when they need it but the staff is unhelpful. Sometimes, residents will be quite vocal about this and, before you choose a facility, you may want to talk to them about whether or not they're happy with how they're treated at the facility.

Structural Damage

Make sure you check the hallways, stairways and other public areas for damage that has not been repaired. Assisted living facilities are for people who do not need the intensive care that they'd get at a nursing home, but they still have to be up to the standards of any other healthcare facility.
If structural problems are going unaddressed, it's a sign that there may be e much more serious problems that you'll have to deal with down the line. Remember that these facilities are expensive and, because of that, you deserve good treatment.

Moving On to a New Place

If a facility doesn't provide you with the level of care you need and expect, you should consider moving on. For some residents, this is difficult, as finding another facility may take time. If the services you received were totally useless, not as advertised and resulted in physical harm you may want to consider speaking with a lawyer who could file a lawsuit against the facility.