Saturday, April 7, 2012

Elder Abuse


          Though most of us know elderly people, be they our parents, grandparents, friends, or neighbors, we don’t often think about elder abuse, but it is a growing problem. Elder abuse also occurs in ways we may not think about or know about. Most people know about physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, probably because these forms of abuse can happen at any age, but many are unfamiliar with types of abuse that seem to occur specifically with elderly people such as neglect, financial abuse, and abandonment. Though these forms of abuse may be less well known, they can be just as damaging as any other type of abuse.
            When considering elder abuse it is important to keep in mind why the elderly population is so at risk. Elderly persons may experience a decline in both physical and cognitive abilities, and for this reason they can be more easily taken advantage of physically, and especially financially. Elderly people also have spent most of their lives working and saving for their ‘golden’ years. Having a life savings makes these people targets for, not only swindlers and thieves, but also in many cases their own family. Unfortunately, elderly individuals may have family members with gambling or drug problems, or family members that feel entitled to their money.
            According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, the NCEA, neglect is defined as: “the refusal or failure to fulfill any part of a person's obligations or duties to an elder”. This could include denying someone basic necessities such as food, medicine, and water, and also things like refusing to pay for home health services and any other things previously agreed upon. Neglect can also be intentional or passive, so someone may not necessarily realize they are neglecting an elderly person.
            One of the biggest categories of elder abuse is financial exploitation. According to the NCEA this is illegal or improper use of a person’s assets, property, or funds. The National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, NCPEA, also points out that financial abuse can be theft of funds or assets, forgery, confidence schemes, or forcing someone to sign documents, usually wills or deed to benefit the other party. Again, this can be particularly devastating to an elderly individual because it can drain his or her life savings and leave very little money and very few assets to live with. This type of abuse can be very difficult to determine and prove because many elderly individuals do not have the capacity to conduct business on their own and need someone to do it for them. This makes for a difficult situation because what may appear to be financial abuse may really be a family member trying to help an elderly relative with his or her finances.
            The NCEA mentions that another unique type of elder abuse is abandonment. This is similar to neglect, except the caretaker or family member doesn’t necessarily neglect the elderly person, but simply abandons him or her. One key aspect of this scenario is that the person abandoning the elderly individual has to have assumed the responsibility of caring for him or her at some point. It can’t be considered abandonment if this person has never assumed responsibility for the care of the elderly person.
            Elder abuse is a growing problem that people need to be more aware of. Working at a bank, I can attest to the fact that elder abuse, especially finance exploitation, can be very difficult to recognize. Recently, the government has made many people, including bank employees, mandatory reporters of elder abuse. Hopefully, this will help teach people about elder abuse, and also raise awareness to this growing problem.
           
           
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12 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I am glad to hear that the government has taken some steps towards protecting the elderly against abuse. In my Criminal Investigation class, we learned that the elderly are the target of many online and telephone scams. Many senior citizens are not aware of all the online scams that take place and many of these individuals are also not very tech savvy. Many of the seniors who are financially scammed over the web either do not realize they have been swindled or they are too embarrassed to notify the authorities.

    Nursing homes are another area in which the elderly are physically abused or neglected. In my home town there was an incident at a nursing home in which the members of the staff were caught committing pranks on the senior residents. There was also another incident in which the staff allowed one resident to sexually assault another resident who suffered from Alzheimer’s. These events should have never taken place, but due to the lack of proper supervision these vulnerable residents were preyed upon in a place in which they should have felt safe and secure.

    Elder neglect and abuse may become a growing problem within the next decade or so as the baby boomers get older and become more dependent on others. I hope the government and law enforcement agencies are prepared for the possibility that these individuals may become more of a target for criminals and their own children.

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  3. When I read this article, I immediately thought of the movie Happy Gilmore because of the way the nursing home treated the grandmother. It just goes to show that these things, no matter how horrific they could be, do in fact happen.

    It is sad to see people work hard their entire life just to be abused physically, emotion, and financially abused at the end of their road. I decided to post on this blog because I witnessed this first hand from my family. About 2 years ago my grandmother became diagnosed with a terminal cancer. In her last months some of her nine sons/daughters hassled her for her assets instead of supporting her. My mom tried as much as she could to comfort her dying mother, but the fact remains that not all her siblings did the same. It was a tragic end to her long and beautiful life.

    It is stories like this that show people that this problem should not be tucked away and forgotten.

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  4. This is a great post, because when we think of abuse, we do not consider the elderly, so its good to know the abuses that the elderly can encounter. Working at a retirement home I can attest to the fact that elderly abuse especially abandonment and their finances are big problems. Some elderly people that I have talked to had to go to a retirement home because their children who were taking care of them abandoned them, and they could not live on their own. Its horrible that people think its okay to take advantage of elderly people.

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  5. IT makes me so sad to read things like this because of how true it is. You try to think that these things don't happen but they do. I remember seeing a video last year on CNN of an elderly man in his 90s being beaten every single day by his nurse and because of his Alzheimer's he would forget the next day when his children came to see him. Eventually the family noticed the bruising and action was taken. I think that this is an issue that needs more attention because so many of our loved ones are at risk. My grandma actually got a call the other day from a man saying that it was her grandson and that he needed some money and if she could send him down. Luckily my grandma is aware of these scams and told him no way.

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  6. My girlfriend works as a CNA at a nursing home and the management at her facility is terrible. They are often understaffed having 20-30 residents to 1 CNA. I believe that this is a form of neglect since the residents cannot receieve the care they are guaranteed. My girlfiend told me about one time in the past month a nurse walked right passed the room with a call light and told my girlfriend that a light was on. Now while the nurse should have taken the call herself she also should have been able to ask another CNA but they were understaffed. Luckily, she was able to get to the call light in time because the elderly lady had partially fallen out of her bed and was being choked by her shirt. Recently members of the staff have complained to the state about the kind of abuse that is going on due to poor management and lack of staff.

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  7. Whenever i hear or think of Elder abuse it always reminds me of how the old people were treated in the movie Happy Gilmore. Whats said is that really does happen all through out the world. These poor old people are thrown in nursing homes that treat them awful. This people are living the last years of their lives in pain and suffering. People take advantage of these old people because they simply are not as sharp as the were. They can get their money taken easily and be easily convinced to do things. So their money is usually what people are after and these people try to scheme the old people out of their life savings. We should love and take care of our elders, not mistreat them and steal from them. It's good to see some rising public awareness on this topic, and hopefully something will be done soon to help these poor elderly people.

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  8. I too am glad the government is seeing this as problem and is taking action. Its too bad that instead of protecting vulnerable people, individuals instead take advantage of them. I personally work in a nursing home and see physical abuse first hand. One form of physical abuse I see a lot of is neglect. Unfortunately unless its severe neglect, almost all residents at one point and time are exposed to some sort of neglect. Whether it be waiting longer to be assisted to the bathroom, or sitting in the dining room for an hour after supper. This is common because nursing homes are short staffed and the ratio of aid to resident is great. I would like to see the government crackdown on nursing home standards, but right now it is what it is. As far as sexual abuse goes, its disgusting that this happens to the elderly. Most of the time we only here about sexual abuse committed against minors, but it happens to the elderly. I'm glad I can play a part in helping the elderly live out their last few years as comfortably as I they can.

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  9. This is a great article, and it makes me sick that this goes on. I know my family are personally debating on putting my grandma into a home, but do not want to for the reason of abuse. I am extremely happy the government is finally becoming more aware of this issue. It is actually sickening to me that people feel like they have the right to abuse the elders. I guess their is just sick people out their, and they need to be given the same punishment that any other type of abuse case. A child abuse case should be treated the same way an elderly case would be. Both types of people are helpless when it comes to abuse, and I hope their will be even more government action on this issue.

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  10. I am very satisfied with the article you have posted. I am interested in this subject, I volunteer at a nursing home and hospice facility and have wondered about the abuse that may be happening in the places around me. I have family friends who work in these types of facilities and feel that they should crack down on abuse. I would like to see a high power step in and help our elder population overall. While volunteering a few times a week I witness neglect and call the nurses out on it. They feel like they have such a busy life, but yet every time my patients need help they wait for more than a half hour to use the restroom. And then they have accidents and don't get cleaned for an even longer amount of time. It is heartbreaking and if I could I would fire everyone and hire people that actually care!

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  11. Its incredible that these things actually happen. As someone with family in a nursing home this hits incredibly close to home, it is a very saddening story and hopefully there can be reform in the way people get hired at these organizations that would ensure the safety of the elderly.

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  12. I have studied elder abuse in my other sociology classes and in my current social work class. The two classes of people that are usually the most defenseless are the elderly and children. So when any person abuses or commits a crime against a person that can not defend themselves it's especially shocking. We are taught to respect our elders but then you hear about crimes like these. Even when we trust people in health facilities to take care of our elderly family members, you hear about different places abusing the elderly. Too many times elderly people are taken advantage of because just like children they trust people easier.

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