Each
year, thousands of elders are neglected, abused, and takes advantage of. Many
of the victims are people who can’t help themselves. What makes it worse is
that people trust their family members in the care of the facility and the
worse is happening. To understand the horrible reality of elder abuse, one
first needs to know what it is.
According to the Injury Prevention & Control: Division of Violence
Prevention, Elder abuse is any abuse and neglect of persons age 60 and older by
a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of
trust. Elder abuse is most common in the forms of physical abuse, sexual abuse,
neglect, exploitation, emotional abuse, abandonment, and self-neglect. While
there is elder abuse, there are ways to notice it and take action.
While I mentioned
the types of abuse some elders face, I will now give definitions to each type
of abuse. The first form of elder abuse, physical abuse, can be described as
abuse that “occurs when an elder is injured
(e.g., scratched, bitten, slapped, pushed, hit, burned, etc.), assaulted or
threatened with a weapon (e.g., knife, gun, or other object), or
inappropriately restrained” Sexual abuse is “any sexual
contact against an elder’s will. This includes acts in which the elder is
unable to understand the act or is unable to communicate. Abusive sexual
contact is defined as intentional touching (either directly or through the
clothing), of the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, mouth, inner thigh, or
buttocks. Emotional abuse “occurs when an elder
experiences trauma after exposure to threatening acts or coercive tactics.
Examples include humiliation or embarrassment; controlling behavior (e.g.,
prohibiting or limiting access to transportation, telephone, money or other
resources); social isolation; disregarding or trivializing needs; or damaging
or destroying property. Neglect is “the failure or refusal of a caregiver or
other responsible person to provide for an elder’s basic physical, emotional,
or social needs, or failure to protect them from harm. Examples include not
providing adequate nutrition, hygiene, clothing, shelter, or access to
necessary health care; or failure to prevent exposure to unsafe activities and
environments.” Abandonment is “is the willful desertion of an elderly person by
caregiver or other responsible person. And lastly Exploitation is “the
unauthorized or improper use of the resources of an elder for monetary or
personal benefit, profit, or gain. Examples include forgery, misuse or theft of
money or possessions; use of coercion or deception to surrender finances or
property; or improper use of guardianship or power of attorney.” All of these
forms of abuse is what a good percent of elders are put through.
What may come as a surprise, statistics have
shown that elder abuse most often takes place in elder’s home. It is a sad
thing to know that abuse is most common in the place where the elder should
feel safe. Some warning signs that abuse may be taking place are frequent
arguments between the caregiver and the elderly person and changes in
personality and behavior in the elder. Ways to help prevent elder abuse are
listening to the communication between elders and their caregivers and stepping
in when the communication does not sound right, informing others about elder
abuse to make them more aware, and intervening when you see a caregiver showing
inappropriate behavior.
Not only do elders and the family of elders
notice elder abuse, but there are also caregivers who see coworkers delivering
the abuse. One thing that can be done is to notify the boss or person in charge
so that something can be done to correct the behavior. A different caregiver
than the elder is used to can also step in so that the elder can talk to them
about their situation and hopefully receive better hospitality. Before
suspecting that a caregiver is abusing an elderly person, there of course needs
to be proof of evidence.
What is most scary about elder abuse is the
statistics on how many cases are ignores each year. According to the NCEA, only
one in fourteen cases of elder abuse ever comes to the attention of
authorities. It is unsettling to know that there are plenty of other elders who
cant help themselves when they need it. Another statistic the NCAE had talked
about is that financial exploitation is the highest form of abuse among elders.
It stated that Financial exploitation was self reported at a rate of 41 per
1,000 surveyed, which was higher than self reported rates of emotional,
physical, and sexual abuse or neglect. The last statistic that the NCAE had
mentioned is that approximately fourteen million U.S. adults aged sixty five
and over and nineteen million U.S. adults aged eighteen to sixty four have a
disability, most of the time the disability is Dementia. While elder abuse is
wrong whether the person is healthy or sick, it is especially awful to hear
that people with special needs are the ones who are abused the most.
Elder abuse has huge impacts on the person/people
who are being abused. The first impact is that those who experience abuse and
even the slightest form of abuse, have a 300% higher risk of death when
compared to an elder who has not been abused. Research also shows that abused
elders have significantly higher levels of psychological distress and lower
perceived self-efficiency than older adults who haven’t been victimized.
Elder abuse is extremely serious and has been
increasing steadily over the years. All forms of abuse are serious, and there
are many ways as stated above to help realize that abuse is happening and many
ways to help stop a caregiver from abusing ones that we love. If one sees the
ones they love being abused physically, emotionally, financially, and sexually,
there are hotlines and people to call such as the police and centers that are
located in different neighborhoods. Even when one has an elderly person in
their family in a nursing home or have them receiving care at home, they should
make sure to always check up on them to make sure everything is okay and they
are receiving the best care that they are paying for. Elder abuse is a big deal
and needs to be noticed more than it is.
References
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