LogFAQs > #885663346

Smarkil posted...

adjl posted...

Given what's at stake, I'd go for legislating it. Nursing home patients are a particularly vulnerable population, such that adding an extra level of deterrent to abusive behaviour is reasonable to protect them. A little redundancy isn't going to hurt when you consider what's going to happen if it's under-enforced.

Well good news. Those laws already exist.

http://elder.findlaw.com/elder-abuse/types-of-elder-abuse.html

Emotional and/or psychological abuse typically is defined as an act that causes emotional pain, distress or anguish. Common forms of emotional/psychological abuse include verbal assaults, intimidation, humiliation, threats, insults, harassment and treating senior citizens like children.

This type of elder abuse usually is verbal, but not always. For example, giving an elderly person the silent treatment or isolating an older person from family and friends are non-verbal forms of emotional/psychological abuse.Emotional and/or psychological abuse sometimes is a byproduct of physical abuse, such as when an elderly person fears his or her abuser.

We really don't need more laws to cover something that's already covered.

You do, however, sometimes need new laws to clarify things that some people might not think of as being covered by the existing ones. This would fall under that, where a great many people think (insist, even) that misgendering is not abusive behaviour, and would therefore not think to avoid it in their efforts to not abuse patients.
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