In failing health but determined to stay in their Jeffersontown home, Hans and Martha Rau turned several years ago to a personal service business for help with daily needs, including bathing, dressing and housekeeping.
But over a period of 12 months, the couple said, their paid helpers twice defrauded and exploited them.
Tens of thousands of dollars in cash, jewelry and valuables were stolen, including gold bands the couple exchanged before their 1948 wedding, according to the Raus' report to police.
And the workers -- who by law are not authorized to dispense medication -- sometimes mixed the couples' painkillers, overmedicating Martha Rau.
"It was terrible," said Hans Rau, 83, a former teacher who has severe arthritis and Parkinson's disease.
"A lot of things that were stolen were treasures to me,'' said Martha Rau, 81, who has arthritis and dementia.
While the 2009 General Assembly passed a law requiring personal service businesses to be certified with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, it provides little oversight and few avenues for sanctions.
"It's pretty lame," said the Raus' son, Tom Rau of Jacksonville, Fla. "It needs more oversight."
Full Article and Source:
For Elderly Couple, Help at Home Was a Nightmare
5 comments:
There should be a govt. registry for all home workers, care attendants, etc., to check their criminal records, and references also.
If not govt., who else can do this?
Sounds similair to a situtation my mother fell prey to after her family was hood winked by a court appointed guardianship in Florida. Mother is/was abused, neglected and exploited while the state of Florida looks the other way.
By the way... my mother is not even a a resident or domicile of Florida so whatever you do, don't let your loved ones visit Florida!
Don't count on the government because the system is not in place there either.
The whole system is so piece meal that it makes it so easy to take advantage of the ill disabled and elderly.
This is very sad. Everybody wants to stay at home when they get to needing assistance or even full time care, but they need to be protected too.
If home care is the wave of the future, and I think it is, then we'd better do something to make it safer for the vulnerable.
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