Today’s injured soldiers returning home from the Middle East — often victims of severe head trauma and loss of limbs — are victimized once more as they become lost within long-term care facilities neither qualified nor staffed to meet their needs. Along with an increase of mental health patients, the environment is increasingly dangerous for the aging as well as the traumatized and mentally unstable. Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers say all residents are at risk.

From the standpoint of safety alone, imagine a common scenario in which a young soldier returns from the Middle East with severe depression, anxiety and anger issues. He may be placed in a room with a frail, elderly man. It’s more than a recipe for serious disaster.

Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys say activity directors are un-trained and unaware of the type of programs that need to be maintained for returning soldiers. In Illinois, nursing home neglect can take many forms, including that of simply being unable to manage the most basic needs of its residents.

It is absolute unfair (and some may argue shameful) for these soldiers to return to such a condition with expectations of regaining any type of normalcy in their lives. At their best, skilled nursing and long-term care facilities are designed to address an elderly patient’s needs to return home (commonly after an injury such as a hip fracture or stroke), not a soldier’s needs to re-integrate himself into society.

Imagine dealing with a soldier who is a double amputee – he is young, maybe 21 – and he needs to learn how to walk again or how to live with his permanent disability. Not only are the physical implications of this situation extremely complicated, dealing with the emotional implications of being a 21-year-old double amputee is even more severe. The staff at a nursing home is absolutely not trained for such a situation.

Illinois nursing home negligence lawyers say recognizing the severity of this situation just the first step.

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