The Rise of Social Media Attacks on Elders
by
Recent reports of senior living facility workers posting dehumanizing photos of residents on social media have highlighted a troubling form of elder abuse that appears to be on the rise. In a number of these cases, staff members have posted degrading photos and images of their elderly residents on Snapchat, a messaging app that allows users to share images for a few seconds before they disappear.
In October 2015, several female staff members of a skilled nursing facility in San Diego posted a video on Snapchat of what appears to show them mocking a partially nude male patient as he was getting into the shower.
In December 2015, ProPublica (https://www.propublica.org) identified 35 cases in which nursing home and assisted living center employees shared videos or images of patients in the past four years. In at least 16 of these cases, the videos or images were shared on Snapchat. Even more alarming, some the shared content included naked or partially naked elderly residents, many of whom have dementia.
Since then, two additional cases involving Snapchat have surfaced. In January, a former nursing assistant at an assisted living facility in Wisconsin was charged with a felony based on allegations that she took and posted a video of a mostly naked resident on the app. In February, a nursing assistant in Indiana was charged with both felony and misdemeanor counts for allegedly posting a video of staff members spraying water on an 85-year-old dementia patient while she was naked in the shower. According to witnesses, the assistant stated in the recording "look at this crazy bitch she doesn't like taking showers."
After ProPublica’s article was published, Senator Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana) called on the Senate Aging Committee to look into the issue. As Donnelly remarked in a statement, “[i]t is troubling and disturbing that some seniors are unwillingly and unknowingly victims of exploitation and abuse on social media by some nursing home workers. That is why I am asking the Aging Committee to use all appropriate tools and resources to investigate this issue.”
Last week on March 8, Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware) sent a letter to the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services referencing ProPublica's findings and demanding information on how it plans to address such instances of abuse. The office has indicated its intention to respond to the letter but claims it is unable to provide any information at this time.
These reports illustrate the need for senior living facilities to have clear policies regarding employees' use of cell phones around residents, as well as social media and safeguarding their residents' privacy. For relatives of seniors who may be entering or already reside in a senior living facility, it is critical to find out what policies the facility has in place to prevent these types of instances from occurring and how they are enforced.
