Elder Abuse Declining

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

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention standardly defines elder abuse as “any abuse and neglect of persons age 60 or older by a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust” (CDC, Elder Abuse). It is always thought that the elderly are treated with honor, dignity and respect but many of the elderly have been abused and neglected as much if not worse than the children we spoke of in our previous discussions. Who seriously could hurt these frail people, someone’s grandparents, possibly even your own; persons who because of the aging process have lost their ability to fight back and are being bullied or attacked by someone in a position of trust. It is estimated that 70% to 90% of the perpetrators of elderly

The Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse states that 10% of older adults are abused in some way; which is over 160,000 people in Ontario. Elderly abuse is categorized as the violence, mistreatment or neglect of an elderly person by caregivers, service providers, family, or even strangers (Canadian Government). A senior citizen can be abused physically, financially, psychologically, and rarely, sexually. The mistreatment is usually because of the influence a caregiver has over an older adult. The abuse on the elderly can happen in long term care facilities or in the home; it usually goes unnoticed and unreported (Elder Abuse and Neglect). The concern of abuse on the elderly population is a growing issue due to the increasing populace of older people and baby boomers; physical, financial, and emotional abuse are the most common forms. The problem needs to be taken more seriously, the types of abuse may vary, but regardless of the form, abuse among the elderly needs to end.

It is estimated that one in ten American over the age of 60 are victims of elder abuse each year. Elder abuse is a difficult subject; however, it is a subject that must be addressed. Thousands of senior citizens are being abused or neglected each day in this country. It is everyone’s responsibility to take acts to prevent elder abuse when possible.

Abuse can happen to anyone, but elderly adults residing in nursing homes are more vulnerable and have a higher risk for abuse (Rasansky Law Firm, 2006, para. 1). Elders are among the fastest growing in the population, and because of this many more elderly

Elder mistreatment is a serious problem in America, yet it often overlooked. Elder abuse is defined as abuse in older adults that includes, but isn’t limited to physical, emotional, financial or sexual abuse. It is a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm. It is often misunderstood and dismissed as just a family matter when in fact, that is the least common source of cruelty amongst the elders. According to the National council of aging, 1 in 10 Americans aged 60 and older have experienced some form of abuse. Some estimates range as high as 5 million elders who are reportedly abused yearly.

The mistreatment of elders goes unrecognized and unreported ever day. As nurses we are responsible for advocating for our patients. In order to do this we need to know what to look for, and how to take action. In this document I will discuss the types of elder abuse/mistreatment, how to identify the sometimes hidden signs, and how to properly take action against abuse.

The research interest topic is the prevalence of elder abuse and neglect found in selected Ohio nursing homes and what, if any consequences the nursing homes encounter if elder abuse cases are substantiated. A theory consists of a body of ideas regarding a particular phenomenon or topic (Cozby & Bata, 2012). Therefore, a theory seeks the truth from reasoned known facts, which serves as a basis of investigation (Burnight & Mosqueda, 2011). The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical perspective.

I am intending on researching the rising epidemic of elder abuse and why and how it happens. I hypothesize that the subject generally is unheard of and goes unnoticed for many people. Since working and caring for the elderly is a part of the medical field, my primary audience would be health care professionals who work in elder facilities as well as family members who have taken on the role as care giver. These individuals should be interested in the topic because chances are they are passionate about their work or family member and would like to acquire knowledge on how to prevent or help life proceed to those that have been affected by the situation. The people who have the greatest opportunity and accessibility to help the victims of

While many studies have been done on the prevalence of elder abuse, little research is available in the area of prevention and intervention (Navarro et al., 2012). The Navarro et al. hypothesized the notion that a multidisciplinary approach improves the chances of successful prosecution in cases involving elder financial exploitation (Navarro, et al, 2012).

In general, elder abuse refers to any knowing, intentional or negligent act by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or risk of harm to a vulnerable adult. All fifty states have laws of some form that prohibit elder abuse. Sadly, we do not know exactly how many elderly suffer from neglect and abuse. Although, statistics show female elders are abused at a higher rate than males. The elderly person may be hesitant to report the abuse because of lack of physical ability to report or fear or retaliation. Most of the time, the abusers are family members. Family members who use a lot drugs or alcohol, have a mental illness, and who feel burdened by their caregiving responsibilities are more likely to be abusive. About 5.1 million Americans over the age of 65 have

After analysis and interpretation of this article, I believe the primary objective is emphasized to be an overall didactic approach towards influencing the federal government to expand public awareness and thus evoke greater intervention towards creating preventive strategies in elder mistreatment. Overall, the message being portrayed is Americans in general should come to the realization that elder abuse is a systemic, collaborative issue that affects multiple stakeholders. For example, the provoked abuse can lead to nursing home admissions at rates four times faster than the norm rates of non-victims, financial abuse can lead to greater stress and reliance placed on the family, caregivers can overall suffer both physically and mentally from the extensive care needed by the victims, and Medicare (and other programs) will spend more than they already are- on the results of further abuse. From knowing the latter, the proposal includes a federal strategy to acknowledge the overall abuse by directing the president to encourage both private and public sectors to get involved in action and policy specifically targeting the financial exploitation of elders. Nevertheless, not only do financial domains need to be investigated, but overall all aspects of elder abuse; thus, the plan is set out to provoke- as mentioned in the former, overall public awareness which can cause a greater change. This is said to be done by encouraging the new president, Trump, to talk and

Though the United States does not have the actual official statistics of the prevalence of elderly people abused, non-profit organizations estimate it to be about 4 million annually. The difficulty in listing the actual type of abuse is brought about by the diversity of abuse (Henderson, Hanson & Reynolds, 2003). Elderly abuse is classified into seven main groups. These include physical abuse that involves using force to injure or threaten an elderly people physically (Torrey, 2014). Another type of abuse is emotional abuse which involves the use of offensive language, isolation or neglecting an elderly person. This results in mental distress and other mentally related disorders (Wright & National Film Board of Canada, 1990). Sexual abuse is a form abuse that involves getting into sexual contact with an elderly person without his or her consent. Exploitation is the use of the elder’s person money without their authority. Abandonment is deserting the elderly individual into helpless and vulnerable conditions (Henderson, Hanson & Reynolds, 2003). Lastly, self-neglect is a condition where an elderly individual lacks the knowledge to deal with the condition they are exposed in by the caregivers. All these forms of abuse are present in different nursing homes in America. Though, there are numerous factors that deter whether an individual is abused or not. For

A combination of individual, relational, community and socio-cultural factors contribute to the risk of becoming elder abuse. These factors are largely liable to amplify the magnitude of probable elder abuse. If we understand these factors, we will be able to find out the possible opportunities for prevention of elder abuse.

There are many forms of elder abuse. Recently, financial abuse has been found to be the most predominant form of elder abuse (Harries et al, 2014). Commonly, rates of elder financial abuse are underestimated and underreported (Pillemer & Finkelhor, 1988). Even though there has been research that show practitioners having some ability to identify extreme cases of abuse, they are lacking in knowledge and awareness regarding less obvious situations (Harries et al, 2014). It has been noted that these practitioners are not properly trained to identify the warning signs of financial abuse (Harries et al, 2014). These practitioners do not deny these allegations and they have reported feeling that they lack the knowledge regarding detection of financial abuse. Social workers and healthcare professionals are in a good position to identify financial abuse especially when they have regular contact with the elderly population. In this time of economic recession, the need to be aware of financial abuse