Boston Elder Law Blog

According to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), there are 15,800 nursing homes in the U.S. and those facilities are home to about 1.4 million people. These people have the right to receive a high level of care and the staff has a duty to provide such care.

According to one study, 44 percent of nursing home residents say they have been abused, while an astonishing 95 percent say they have either seen neglect or experienced it themselves. This study was completed by interviewing 2,000 nursing home residents.

Do you know if your parents are ready for retirement? It is often difficult to know whether your parents are financially prepared for this phase in their lives. After all, most people are simply trying to keep their own retirement plans on the right path. When it comes to things such as retirement spending, estate planning, living wills and other important care planning, you should have a general idea -- at the very least -- of how prepared your parents are for the future.

Starting a conversation with your parents about their situation is the best approach. One expert recommends using a third party as an example of poor planning. For example, you can talk to them about a friend whose parents weren't prepared and how much trouble he had to go through in order to ensure everything was set up properly. You may be surprised at how ready your parents are to have this conversation.

Bad reactions to medications may seem rare, but according to one Harvard Medical School professor, it is actually a very common occurrence. Unfortunately, older people are more susceptible to these adverse reactions because their bodies are not able to process the medications as quickly as younger people.

A study done a decade ago by the University of Massachusetts estimated that 1.9 million people on Medicare had a bad reaction to a drug and for those in a nursing home, the numbers were even higher. That study also estimated that over one quarter of those reactions should have been prevented.

Though death is unavoidable, many people are afraid to talk about the topic. This has resulted in a number of individuals being unprepared for the future, particularly when it comes to long-term care. Nowadays, people are living longer than they ever have before so long-term care planning should be seen as an important step toward a future of living on into old age. The problem is that many ignore it and see themselves as invulnerable until it is too late.

This creates issues for many people, not just the individual who falls ill or is diagnosed with a life-altering condition such as Alzheimer's disease. Loved ones are forced to take time from their lives to care for the person who did not make plans for long-term care. If they cannot take the time, they may feel obligated into using their money to pay for such care. Attorneys that specialize in estate planning and other late-in-life issues can help people avoid this sort of obligation to loved ones.