Neglect

What is neglect?

Neglect is a failure to provide necessary care, supervision or services to a person who depends on another for their wellbeing, resulting in harm or a significant risk of harm.

It differs from active abuse in an important respect. Neglect generally involves an omission, a failure to act, rather than an affirmative act of harm directed at the vulnerable person.

It appears most frequently in the context of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other settings where vulnerable individuals genuinely depend on others for their basic daily care.

Understanding the specific patterns this category typically takes matters considerably to recognizing when a facility's conduct has crossed from an isolated shortcoming into a genuinely significant, legally actionable pattern.

What are common categories this specific harm typically takes?

Several recurring patterns appear across most cases involving this type of harm.

• Failure to provide adequate nutrition and hydration
• Failure to prevent or properly treat pressure ulcers
• Failure to prevent falls through adequate supervision and safety measures
• Failure to administer medications properly and on the required schedule
• Failure to maintain basic hygiene and provide necessary personal care
• Failure to respond promptly to a resident's genuine medical needs

Why does understaffing so frequently underlie this pattern?

Because adequate care simply requires sufficient staff to actually provide it, and understaffing is among the most common root causes underlying this particular pattern of harm.

Staffing records, including actual staff to resident ratios compared against what applicable regulations and the facility's own policies require, are frequently central evidence in these specific cases.

A facility's own internal documents, including staffing complaints from employees themselves, can reveal whether this specific problem was recognized internally but not genuinely addressed.

How is a claim involving this specific pattern actually built?

Through the facility's own care records, including care plans, and comparing what was genuinely required against what was actually documented as provided.

Witness testimony from family members regarding what they personally observed during visits, and from any facility staff willing to describe conditions they witnessed themselves.

Expert testimony establishing the applicable standard of care and how the facility's specific conduct genuinely departed from it in the particular circumstances involved.

Common questions

Is this the same thing as active abuse of a resident?

Generally no. This category typically involves a failure to act or provide necessary care, while active abuse generally involves an affirmative harmful act directed at the person.

Does understaffing automatically prove this specific type of claim?

Not automatically, though it is frequently a significant contributing factor, and staffing records are commonly central evidence in building this type of case.

What should I do if I suspect this is happening to a family member?

Document your specific observations, raise concerns with the facility in writing, and consider contacting the long-term care ombudsman for an independent investigation.