California Elder Abuse Caught on Granny Cam
A Fair Oaks, California assisted living facility was shut down last week by the state after a family member placed a granny cam and caught some pretty astonishing things on tape. According to news reports, one staffer was caught violently shaking a resident in her wheelchair, and dumping the chair backward. Another clip shows the resident upside down in her wheelchair, crying and alone.
The family of Kyong Hui Duncan, 73, placed a granny cam at her bedside to make sure the home knew someone was watching. The staff was aware of the camera, which was in plain view. It was intended as a deterrent. Unfortunately, it did not prevent abuse, it merely memorialized it. The family became concerned about their matriarch when she suffered mysterious bruises and infections that went untreated. While looking for an alternative living arrangement, Duncan passed away. After her passing, her grandson reviewed the video images and saw the abuse.
"Shocking" does not begin to describe my reaction to this story. I picture my own 89 year old grandmother, helpless, and suffering in this way. I imagine my children, and wonder how I would react if I found them turned upside in their stroller at daycare. As an advocate for the elderly, I know the grief and guilt a family feels when they place their trust in a care home, only to learn that it was violated because staff didn't do their job. Maybe they did not recognize an infection. Maybe they let grandma get dehydrated. But this type of abuse is over the top. More than one staff member would have had to participate in turning someone upside down in a wheel chair, and who knows how many other heard her cries or saw her in this condition, and did not help her. For the family, they thought the camera would provide added protection. In the end, it provided haunting images which the family replays in their mind's eye.
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