Milpitas, California

Welcome to the City of Milpitas’ nursing home and assisted living facility elder abuse and neglect website for the Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi. Our firm is made up of experienced attorneys and gerontology experts who are dedicated to bettering the lives of older adults who have been abused or neglected in a residential care facility.

Located in Santa Clara County and Silicon Valley, Milpitas is a city that enjoys warm, sunny weather all year round, with occasional rainfall during the winter months. A well-known feature of this city is its beautiful Monument Peak, a mountain peak that is the most visible landmark and has been considered a symbol of the city for decades. There is one nursing home located in Milpitas and 30 assisted living facilities nearby.

Urinary incontinence (UI) is one of the most common complaints among nursing home residents. Most residents are frail older adults with physical activity, mobility, muscle strength, cognition, nutrition, and endurance impairments. UI, defined as “involuntary loss of urine that is a social or hygienic problem,” is not only an indicator of comorbid and functional impairment severity, but may also foretell the onset of frailty. Internationally, UI is identified as a risk factor for residing in a nursing home facility.

Important risk factors that influence UI include dependence in activities of daily living (ADL), alertness, drugs, and mobility.   A recent study found that after four years of residing in a nursing home, residents experienced increases in UI occurrence and comorbid conditions, which reflects the finding that advancement in age and frailty play huge roles in UI prevalence.  Most nursing homes simply use diapers on their residence as a quick fix to UI, but this only makes residents dependent on diapers and allows their UI to worsen.  Instead of resorting to diapers, nursing home staff should put in the effort to train their residents so that they can learn to have better control of their UI.  Because UI is a significant indicator for frailty, a recent study examined the effects of an intervention program that focused on accommodated physical activity and ADL training in hopes of decreasing UI in frail older adults. More specifically, the study investigated the effectiveness of an individualized training program designed to improve ADL and physical functional ability among nursing home residents in reducing UI.

The 3-month training program consisted of 115 nursing home residents ages 65 and above. The program included physical activity and ADL training and was individually adjusted for each participant. Personal treatment goals were assessed and participants were trained in transfer and walking ability, balance, muscle strength, and endurance. Residents who struggled with performing ADLs were trained during meals, with personal care, or dressing. Residents also participated in creative and/or entertaining activities. All nursing staff overseeing the program were informed of every resident’s treatment goals and offered personal supervision in order to insure that the tasks were challenging enough according to residents’ abilities. Nursing home staff overseeing the control group provided their usual care services based on individualized care plans.

The results not only confirmed previous findings that UI prevalence increases over time among nursing home residents, but also that this degradation can be controlled or inhibited as a result of an individualized training program focused on improving overall ADL function and physical capacity. The control group showed an increase in UI occurrence at the end of the 3-month intervention program while the experimental group showed significant improvement. Therefore, it is important that nursing home staff identify residents who suffer from UI and provide quality intervention and care that aim to improve this condition through ADL function and physical capacity training.

If you or someone you care for has been a victim of elder abuse or neglect in a long-term care facility, it is time to get help. The Law Offices of Ben Yeroushalmi are here to defend elderly residents who have been wrongly treated or poorly taken care of.