Yandy Smith-Harris Shares Disturbing Video Of Elderly Care Incident Sparking Debate

Instagram/@yandysmith

An unsettling video showing what appears to be a confrontation between a health worker and an elderly patient in a care setting was posted on Instagram by Yandy Smith-Harris, and the video has now gone viral. The video seemingly shows the worker roughly restraining the elderly woman in a wheelchair, holding her wrists, and at some point apparently pushing or touching her face. Smith-Harris captioned the post, “This is sad,” with crying and exclamation point emojis, also tagging nursing home abuse attorney Tom Giordano. In a transcript of the video, Giordano said, “These facilities are obligated to provide a safe environment for the elderly,” and encouraged viewers to contact him if they suspect abuse.

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Comments began rolling in almost immediately, and arguments broke out as the viewers were split between those who believed this to be abuse and those who felt it was a justified restraint. Someone primarily defending the caregiver said, “You never seen strong until you encounter a dementia patient.. some of the strongest punches and kicks I’ve ever received.” Meanwhile, the other one threw in, “That’s part of the job. If ya can’t do it…don’t. But what ya don’t do is retaliate.” The ongoing disagreements highlighted the incredible difficulty of attempting to care for elders with dementia while aggressive and inappropriate behaviors are all too prevalent, and the importance of learning how to respond to such behaviors appropriately.”

The healthcare workers expressed their views on this matter. One said, “Im a RN and this is an everyday thing, call it abuse because you never had to deal with anything of the sort, and trust me don’t let the fragile small frame fool you, these elderly people are supernatural strong.” Medical-minded members, however, stood opposing that view, with one person arguing, “Honestly, the aide was supposed to deescalate the situation by redirecting the patient or walking away to get some help. There’s no way I’ll continue to be that close to the resident if she’s that aggravated.”

The comment “Had that been a black woman in that wheel chair and a white woman manhandling her, you wouldn’t be saying what you’re saying” did have some racial implications regarding the existence of a double standard of sorts as to how individuals perceive the incident. The comment was met with an overwhelming number of comments agreeing and disagreeing with the statement.

Much of the discourse centered on the emotional side of caregiving, with one user saying, “Coming from someone who worked with dementia patients for 20yrs I have a lot of experience and I have been spit on called a nigha kicked punched bitten called all types of BI there are different levels to dementia.” This statement emphasized the grueling working environment health-care workers face daily, while the contrary side insisted that this does not justify any possible mistreatment of the patients.

In many ways, the video raises key questions on elder care standards, worker training, and techniques for managing aggressive dementia patients: Elder care is a cliff on which awareness is slowly growing as the elder population increases. The event pictured in this video certainly was deemed by some as outright abuse of the patient by the health worker, while other viewed the health worker as being overwhelmed in trying to contend with a difficult situation. The paucity of context as to what preceded the altercation allowed the comment section to run wild with interpretations, with one stating that they must see the whole video from beginning to end before making a fair assessment of what happened.”

Smith-Harris has used her platform to highlight social issues in the past, again in the wake of several social issues she has advocated for, including her recent charitable endeavors, like her charitable moves. The decision to publish the video is just such an instance, throwing light upon the often invisible struggles confronting elder care facilities. The heated discussions over this have reflected how deeply people feel about protecting those who are vulnerable to abuse, while also acknowledging the plight of an underpaid and overworked healthcare workforce.

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Emerging from the discourse is the issue of the need for better training, staffing, and oversight of care facilities so that such incidents are prevented and thus provide assistance to both patients and workers. As this post has gone viral, it certainly will open an entire conversation as to how such incidents and cases in elder care should be evaluated as being a matter of right treatment or wrong treatment and abuse.