A large chunk of the At-Risk population in the USA is comprised of the elderly. In a country with an aging population, it is important that laws and regulations are in place to properly care for this part of the community. An absolute must before letting a caregiver in a home with unsupervised time with an elderly patient is a thorough caregiver background check. This should include a criminal background check, sex offender background check, any necessary credentials check and of course reference checks.
Without proper insurance hiring caregivers can be very expensive and puts a tremendous financial burden on the family whose member needs personal care. Often times in such situations low cost care is sought out, however these people may not have adequate credentials or resident status to appropriately care for an elderly patient. This situation could be disastrous and opening up the opportunity for elder abuse. It is important that caregivers become qualified for such a profession by going through adequate training to reach sufficient qualifications.
When it comes to at-risk populations including the elderly, it is imperative that caregivers undergo a thorough background screening prior to entry into the home.
Elder abuse comes in many forms and families should be well aware of the different types. Some may be overlooked or held inconsequential, but each are equally disruptive and devastating to the elderly.
The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living provides information on their website regarding elder abuse and provides the following categories:
From acl.gov (https://acl.gov/newsroom/observances/WEAAD/docs/WEAAD-Factsheet-How-To-Answer-Tough-Questions.pdf)
Elder abuse refers to intentional or negligent acts by a caregiver or trusted individual that causes harm to a vulnerable elder. Elder abuse takes many forms, including:
- Neglect
- Physical abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Financial abuse and exploitation
- Emotional or psychological abuse and neglect (including verbal abuse and threats)
- Abandonment
- Self-neglect
In the end, the nation as a whole must take precautions to protect the aging population of this country. That includes performing thorough background checks and getting reference checks prior to letting a caregiver in the home thus helping to protect the vulnerable part of the community. There are several well qualified third-party background screening companies that can assist families and organizations obtain the proper background reports. Having access to these background reports makes it easier to determine whether or not a potential caregiver is going to treat the elder patient(s) with the dignity and respect they deserve. CriminalBackgroundRecords.com is one such company that can perform caregiver backgrounds for the purposes of protecting the elderly.
To read more about this subject read recent press release found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2017-01-13-Caregiver-Background-Checks.html