Many families across New York may have needed to make the difficult decision to put loved ones in nursing homes. Most of the time, these decision are not made lightly and require considerable thought and reflection, but those families that ultimately decide to put their family members in nursing homes believe they are doing the best thing for them. Sadly, some nursing homes end up being a place of physical and emotional pain for their residents.

Suffolk County families should not have to worry about whether their loved ones will face abuse at the nursing home. Anyone who suffers physical abuse while a resident at a nursing home should be able to hold the nursing home and its staff members accountable his or her injuries and medical bills. Just because someone needs assistance administering medications or completing daily living tasks does not mean their physical safety is any less important than anyone else's.

In an effort to protect senior citizens from elder abuse, an elder abuse shelter was opened in the Bronx. Now there are several similar shelters across the country with one goal in mind -- providing long-term care for senior citizens that have previously been abused. Some of these shelters have gone beyond providing medical care and include social work and legal services, therapy, religious care and social, educational and recreational programs.

The president and CEO of one of the shelters estimates that one in 10 seniors have faced some kind of elder abuse. Although physical abuse is very common, financial, emotional and sexual abuse are also problems some seniors face. With the increasing numbers of senior citizens, it is extremely important to protect loved ones from elder abuse.

Source: USA Today, "As USA grays, elder abuse risk and need for shelters grow," Haya El Nasser, Jan. 10, 2012