What Evidence Should You Collect to Prove Nursing Home Abuse in Indiana?

Nursing home abuse cases can be challenging to deal with because the signs of abuse are not always obvious. Finding evidence of nursing home abuse may be difficult when abusers take steps to hide their wrongdoing.

The evidence available will depend on the unique circumstances of your case. Physical evidence can be collected, including photos of injuries, security camera footage, and any signs of physical injury. We can also interview witnesses and get important testimony about the abuse and the nursing home staff. If you believe your loved one is being abused in their nursing home, you should report your suspicions to the Indiana Department of Health and the police. Both may launch investigations that could turn up additional evidence.

If you believe your loved one has been the victim of abuse in their nursing home, get them help immediately. Our Indiana nursing home abuse lawyers can help you gather evidence and build a case against the nursing home. Call Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166 for a free case review.

Physical Evidence in a Nursing Home Abuse Case in Indiana

Physical evidence is one of the most important forms of evidence we can gather for your case. Physical evidence may include actual objects and items from the nursing home or recordings like photos or videos of evidence. Our Indianapolis nursing home abuse attorneys can help you find any physical evidence that might help your case.

Injuries

Victims of nursing home abuse often have visible signs of abuse on their bodies. If you find bruises, cuts, scrapes, swelling, or other signs of injuries on your loved one’s body, you should take photos of the injuries immediately. Once your loved one gets medical attention, their injuries will hopefully begin to heal. Your photos help preserve the injuries as evidence for a trial. It is also important to document every time you notice injuries on your loved one as they might be signs of ongoing abuse.

Security Cameras

Security cameras may be scattered around the nursing home facility, and evidence of abuse might be caught on video. In Illinois, for example, nursing home residents are allowed to place their own security cameras in their private rooms. Under the Illinois Authorized Electronic Monitoring in Long-Term Care Facilities Act, residents can place security cameras in their private room, as long as the resident pays for the cameras, has consent from any roommates, and provides notice to the nursing home and any visitors that there is a security camera in the room. Other states are enacting similar laws, and even in states that do not have a specific law in this regard, a responsible nursing home should still allow you to place a camera in your loved-one’s room.

Abuse often happens behind closed doors, and a private security camera in your loved one’s room can provide critical evidence of abuse while also helping to prevent it. Speak with a lawyer about whether there are options to set up cameras under Indiana law.

Other Signs of Struggle or Abuse

There might also be signs of struggle in your loved one’s room related to the abuse. Things like broken personal belongings, damaged property, and blood stains in your loved one’s room might be signs of abuse. Documenting these signs as evidence is important, especially if the nursing home cannot explain their origins.

Medical Records

Your loved one’s medical records are of the utmost importance and are necessary to prove the existence of your loved one’s injuries. You should take your loved one to a doctor as soon as you suspect they are being abused. A doctor can evaluate your loved one and determine where their injuries might have come from and whether there are old injuries you did not realize. Not only are medical records necessary to prove the existence of the injuries, but they can also be used to establish damages.

Gathering Witness Testimony for Nursing Home Abuse Cases in Indiana

Physical evidence is sometimes unreliable because it is prone to disappearing before we can gather it. Security camera footage might be destroyed, signs of struggle might be cleaned up, and old injuries might heal, leaving no trace. Even without physical evidence, our Fort Wayne nursing home abuse lawyers can help you find witnesses to provide important testimony about the abuse.

Other nursing home residents might be excellent sources of testimonial evidence. Nursing home staff members who might be abusing your loved one often overlook other residents as potential witnesses. In other cases, they might threaten other residents into silence. These residents might have information about the abuse because they are exposed to it on a daily basis.

In some cases, other staff members at the nursing home know about the abuse but are afraid to come forward out of fear of losing their jobs. If we can get the right legal authorities involved, nursing home staff members might be more willing to come forward.

The doctors who treat your loved one will also be needed to provide testimony about the abuse. The doctor can be an expert witness who can explain the severity of your loved one’s injuries and where they likely came from. This is extremely important and can make or break the case.

Using the Results of Investigations as Evidence in Nursing Home Abuse Cases

Evidence gathered in independent investigations are also very important to your case. Once you suspect abuse, you can report the nursing home to the Indiana Department of Health if you suspect abuse, and an official state surveyor may make an unannounced visit to the nursing home facility to investigate your concerns. Our Indiana nursing home abuse attorneys can help you determine which agencies you can file complaints with.

You should also contact the police about abuse in your loved one’s nursing home. Abuse is a serious criminal offense, and the police may investigate your claims. The results of this investigation can be used to support your claims of abuse. Keep in mind that police reports cannot usually be used as evidence as they do not typically satisfy the hearsay rule. However, the investigation might turn up other evidence we might not be able to find without the help of the authorities.

Call Our Indiana Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys for Help Now

If your loved one shows any signs of abuse while living in a nursing home, you should contact the police and get them help immediately. Our Hammond nursing home abuse lawyers can help you gather enough evidence to hold the nursing home liable. Call Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166.