Help protect your elders from fraud and abuse

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Help protect your elders from fraud and abuse

Twice in the same week we’ve heard horror stories from our clients and colleagues about their much-loved elders being neglected or defrauded. We wanted to bring that to everyone’s attention as a wakeup call to help you protect your elders from these very real threats. Don’t think it can happen to your loved ones? Then read these cautionary tales.

One colleague was horrified to learn that his 90 year-old father had just been scammed for – (take a deep breath) – more than $35,000. Now it’s up to the police to recover the funds. At first the bank said they’d secure the funds, but then they blamed the father for his own negligence. Just in case the humiliation of losing the money isn’t enough, they blame the victim.

Here’s another story: a client of ours just faced an even scarier situation. She went to visit her friend in a nursing home, only to discover that she had disappeared. She’d missed her breakfast, so they called her on the phone. No answer – and no follow-up. Not even a knock on the door. So when the visitor shows up, there’s no sign of her friend. Eventually, the resident is located wandering outside the nursing home. And that isn’t even the worst of it. As a former nurse in seniors’ homes, our client – the visiting friend – has previously discovered a resident who had died unnoticed and another in the midst of a heart attack.

Does this send shivers up your spine? You’d be surprised at the lack of regulations governing the seniors’ home industry. What you’d expect as a minimum level of care is in no way guaranteed.

The moral of both these stories is the same: you have to be willing to ask the tough and unpleasant questions.

“Dad, have you written cheques I don’t know about?”

Or:

“What kinds of checks do you regularly perform on the residents in your facility? Do you have a system for monitoring them?”

It may not be “Canadian” to ask those uncomfortable questions, but it’s the only way to be sure you are avoiding much more uncomfortable events in the future.

Just a heads up from us. Please feel free to share.

Thanks for reading,

Eric

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