Cracking Down on Social Media Nursing Home Abuse

Posted in General FAQ'S on November 23, 2016

Nursing homes exist to provide a healing environment for our elderly loved ones. Unfortunately, nursing home abuse and neglect are very real problems affecting thousands of individuals. One particularly heinous form of nursing home abuse is using social media to spread sensitive images of elderly patients. Several nursing home staff members have been found guilty of taking demeaning photos and videos of patients, and lawmakers are starting to recognize social media nursing home abuse as a very real problem.

Right to Privacy

Unfortunately, some believe that because elderly individuals in nursing homes are not self-sufficient, they are no longer entitled to the basic human dignity, privacy, and respect everyone deserves. Some of the incidents of social media nursing home abuse include taking photographs of residents covered in feces, naked, or even dead in some cases.

Not only are these offenses degrading and dehumanizing, but they violate the nursing homes’ duty to act with reasonable care. In any nursing home abuse case, the plaintiff (the person or party filing the lawsuit) must prove the nursing home or a staff member was negligent or intentionally harmed the resident in question. Nursing homes have a duty to provide every resident with basic human necessities and provide reasonable medical care – that is why these places exist.

Many lawmakers argue that nursing homes have an obligation to create a homelike environment and to treat residents with dignity and respect. Dehumanizing acts like social media abuse are now considered types of nursing home abuse, and the Department of Justice and Office of Civil Rights have sent notices to social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat to alert them of this trend and encourage them to take action against abusive posts.

Since 2012, there have been 47 different incidents of social media abuse. Some of these incidents were clear instances of abuse – hair pulling, graphic photographs of residents’ genitals, and other compromising images. However, some were honest mistakes that still counted as an invasion of privacy, such as an instance at the Valley Convalescent Hospital in Watsonville, California uncovered by an inspection. A staff member took a picture of her holding a resident’s hand with a caption stating she was holding her hand until the resident fell asleep. However, another employee commented with the resident’s name. The employees were counseled for breaching their confidentiality agreement and essentially disclosing a resident’s personal information on a public platform without permission.

Filing a Lawsuit

If you find yourself in a situation where you believe a loved one has been abused, or had his or her likeness broadcasted across social media by a staff member without his or her consent, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible to start the process of filing a lawsuit and holding the guilty parties responsible.

Your attorney will help you launch an investigation into the matter. Chances are, if your loved one has been depicted on social media by a nursing home staff member, you’ve either seen the content, yourself, or been made aware of its existence by other parties. Your attorney will need to gather all the necessary evidence, such as timestamps of when the images or videos were posted, by whom, and how large of an audience could have seen them. Your attorney will also gather statements from your loved one, other residents, and staff members.

Hopefully these new measures will mean far fewer incidents of social media nursing home abuse. Elderly individuals deserve the same respect as anyone else, and the people responsible for their care in nursing homes have an obligation to do no harm. Anyone who violates that obligation needs to be held accountable for their actions.