This brief essay examines two issues that affect the elderly directly: elder abuse and the need for end of life planning. The elderly need protection from abuse and should take steps to plan for their eventual demise. Elder Abuse in the United States Elder abuse is wide spread. Surprisingly, elder abuse was first described in research articles in the 1970s. Its severity and rates of occurrence continue to increase. Acierno et al. (2010) conducted a national telephone interview survey of randomly selected adults from several geographical areas who were at least 60 years old. Average age of respondents was 71.5 years. Most of the abused were women (39.8%). Over 68% were married or cohabitating. Most were white (87.5%). Eighty percent were unemployed or retired, 45.7% had low incomes and 62% had endured at least one traumatic event. Almost half needed some type of social services or daily living assistance. The data collected indicated the most prevalent abuses reported by the 5777 respondents over their lifetimes were: emotional mistreatment (21.7%), physical abuse (12%) and sexual mistreatment (7%). Within the previous year, potential neglect and financial mistreatment by family members each occurred about 5% …show more content…
They found medical personnel caring for older adults regularly encounter abuse victims. The researchers noted that poor physical health often leads to elder abuse. They concluded that since elder abuse victims generally are isolated and lack social support, even intermittent interactions with physicians provide opportunities to identify, assess, intervene or refer victims to appropriate social service agencies. They caution that elder abuse must use an inter professional approach to help resolve abusive situations. This could include social workers, protective services and law enforcement
Elder abuse includes physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as neglect, exploitation and abandonment of our older generation (Falk, 2012). The people that cause these injuries include the elderly person’s own family and staff members of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, medical rehabilitation facilities and hospitals (NCOA, 2017). There is approximately 1 in 10 older adults that have experienced some type of elder abuse in the United States (NCOA, 2017). Within these staggering numbers, only 1
There are a few problems facing the elderly; one problem that is facing the elderly is that there has not been much research done in regard to elder abuse; second, there are beginning to be more elders than specialized health care workers so elders are not getting the care that they need; third, the laws concerning elder abuse are vague and most elders do not know their rights and services that could help them and their family. Elder abuse began to be a recognized problem around the 1970s, but it is still behind child abuse and domestic violence by at least twenty to forty years.
As Americans live longer, it is no surprise that the population of older adults has increased; consequently so has the ubiquitous problem of elder abuse. In the United States elder abuse is an exceedingly, overlooked public health hazard; which covers a wide range of abuses. Approximately 2 million adults, over the age of 60 are abused or mistreated each year. ("Elder Justice: A John A. Hartford Foundation Change AGEnts Issue Brief", 2016) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has defined elder abuse as "an intentional act, or failure to act, by a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult, age 60 and older” (“Elder Abuse: Definitions”, 2016) Studies show a vast majority of health care professionals underestimate the occurrence of elder
Hello Antonia, thank you for being a major part of this week’s discussion, and sharing your potential funding sources that appears to be a great fit. I cannot recall if I extend gratitude to you for selecting this population as your idea project, so thank you for doing so. This population being at-risk to abuse and mistreatment is worthy to be address. How sad! Acierno, and colleagues (2010), indicated that The National Elder Abuse Incidence Study, had conducted a decade ago, was the first major investigation of mistreatment among the aging population in the United States and found that 449924 persons aged 60 years or older had been physically abused, neglected, or had been mistreated in some kind of way. I was appalled in the number of elderly being abused and just think this study does not include the cases that were unreported.
When presented with the word “elderly,” a twenty-year-old might begin to think of the joys of retirement when an older person has spent their life building a comfortable bank account; they then get to reward themselves by journeying around the world with their near and most dear companion. When reality sets in, that person may realize that a lot of today’s elderly are living in nursing homes or living week-by-week not knowing if they are going to be able to leave their hospital bed just to go relax in their recliner at home. While it is true that some elderly enjoy their last twenty or thirty years on earth, a lot of the elderly in America are struggling to hang on to life while being abused every day by healthcare workers or even loved ones. While many people have been working endlessly to put a stop to elder abuse, not everyone can say the same.
Over the years, elder people are being abused, mistreated, and exploited. These victims are people who are of age, weak, and hopeless who cannot defend themselves. Men and women are abuse by their caregivers, family, friends and etc. Elder abuse refer to any know mistreatment or negligent by any person that is causing harm or a serious risk of maltreatment to a hopeless adult. Elder abuse can take numerous forms such as emotional, physical, financial, neglect, sexual and etc. What are the signs of elder abuse and how many people are suffering from elder abuse in the U.S.? How can anyone tell if someone is being abusive? What should be done if someone suspect elder abuse?
The aging population is at high risk of being taken advantage of and mistreated by a caregiver or family member. Elders are the most vulnerable group of people and are subject to elder abuse in their later years of life. The Administration of Aging refers to elder abuse as the knowing, intentional, or negligent act that causes harm or serious risk of harm to a vulnerable adult. Every year, hundreds of thousands of older adults are abused, neglected, and exploited. Unfortunately, a trusted caregiver or a loved one commits most of these heinous acts.
Elder abuse is a growing problem that can be a challenge to address. Physical, emotional, and financial abuse is associated with increased mortality rates, especially in those that are alone. The National center on Elder Abuse (as cited in Hoover & Polson, 2014) defines elder abuse as “intentional or neglectful acts by a caregiver or ‘trusted’ individual that lead to or may lead to, harm of a vulnerable elder”. Mistreatment of older adults will incline as the number of adults that need caregivers increase. The elder adult that is the most susceptible to abuse is most likely frail, defenseless, and cognitively impaired. Amidst all other problems, the older adult has encountered at least one type of abuse in their later years. Many cases of older adult abuse are not reported and the abuse continues until mortality.
Elder abuse is commonly unheard of and may be initially associated with more relatable forms of abuse such as physical, sexual or psychological abuse (Patterson, 2017). However, elder abuse encompasses physical, psychological, sexual, financial, self-neglect and neglectful organised care (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2016a). Furthermore, older adults are at risk if they are socially isolated, discriminated against, afraid, have impaired cognitive function, dementia and impaired judgement or insight (Johannesen & LoGiudice, 2013). Additionally, carer factors contribute to the risk of older adult abuse such as the carer’s psychological state, socioeconomic strain and mental illness (Johannesen & LoGiudice, 2013).
Elder Abuse is one of the single most important issues affecting the elder population in
Abuse is defined as the willful infliction of physical pain, injury, or mental anguish upon an older adult, or willful deprivation by a caretaker of services necessary for physical and mental health (Falk, Baigis, & Kopac, 2012). Elder mistreatment is unrecognized, hidden, underreported, and encompasses a broad range of abuse including self-neglect, financial exploitation, and emotional harm, all of which require a different type of intervention (Falk et al., 2012). Screening and assessment are necessary to determine whether an elderly person is being abused, exploited or neglected by someone or if he or she is unable to provide self-care (Falk et al., 2012). In March 2010, the Elder Justice Act (EJA) was passed as a part of the Affordable Care Act, which authorizes federal response to elder abuse through training, services, and demonstration programs (Dong, 2012). Part I of EJA calls for the formation of an Elder Justice Coordinating Council comprised of federal government representatives charged with the responsibility of administering programs for the promotion of elder justice (Falk et al., 2012). The Council is to provide recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on the issue of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of the elderly (Falk et al., 2012). Part II focuses on the authorization of programs aimed at enhancing long-term care (Falk et al.,
In the United States, the size of the geriatric population will rise 19% more than the current population, in the next 20 years, and the number of elderly abuse cases will increase as the proportion of geriatrics grows (Hoover & Polson, 2014). According to the Journal of the American Society on Aging (2014), more than 5 million elderly persons in the US have experienced abuse or neglect; however, only 7% of cases are reported (Rosen, 2014). In most states, healthcare workers have professional and legal obligations to report elder abuse to Adult Protective Services (APS) (Hoover & Polson, 2014). Nurses, especially in the emergency room (ER), can be the first people who encounter
In the health field, the role of professional nursing plays an important part when it comes to elderly abuse. Nurses are among the categories of mandatory reporter most frequently identified in elder abuse reporting and protective service laws, and they are the health care professionals who most often assume major responsibilities in assessing elder abuse and neglect situations (Miller,2005). Nurses intervene in elder abuse situations as individual health care providers or as part of a
The first article “What is Elder Abuse?” explains what elder abuse is, who are the victims, and the many different types of abuse that can take place. The article helps define elder abuse in a way that describes how, “as elders become more physically frail, they’re less able to stand up to bullying and or fight back if attacked” (Robinson, de Benedictis, Ph.D., and Segal, Ph.D., 2011). For this reason, many caregivers or family
Elder Abuse is defined as any activity performed by an individual whereby these actions cause suffering of the older adult, intentionally or not (Touhy, Jett, Boscart & McCleary, 2012, p. 378). Unfortunately, the incidents of elder abuse continue to rise with the increasing number of people entering older adulthood. It is interesting to note that although elder abuse is highly under reported its occurrence increased three fold over a ten-year period (Friese & Collopy, 2010, p. 61). Certainly, it is a nurse’s duty to provide holistic care to his or her patients, which must include protection from abuse. Elder abuse can take on many forms including physical, emotional, sexual, neglect and financial. It is important to note that for the