Elderly Neglect Research Paper

When you hear the words, “Nursing Home”, what comes to mind? Sad, helpless, elderly individuals? The smell of urine? An overall, unpleasant place to reside in? Unfortunately, this generic description is accurate amongst majority of the nursing home facilities across the United States. More often than not, the elderly suffer from inhumane living conditions while residing in a nursing facility. Quite often we hear stories on the news about cases of elder abuse in the nursing home and we automatically think physical, mental, or emotional abuse from caregivers. However, the fact that these individuals are also living amongst unsanitary, inhumane conditions, and ran by a staff that includes

Are nursing homes abusing and neglecting the elderly? The elderly are abused and neglected in society today by caregivers in nursing homes. Elder abuse or neglect is a single or repeated action occurring within any relationship where there is an overlook of trust which causes injury or distress to an older person.

The best solution for elderly abuse is prevention. Preventing abuse is one way to educate future residents and victims of elder abuse about how to deal with this situation. There are many prevention programs across the nation, but one in particular is known as The National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (NCPEA). This association was established in the year 1988 to serve as information and materials on abuse and neglect for older persons in long-term care facilities. This committee’s purpose is to educate the public about neglect and abuse towards elders, to respond to the needs of victims, to support and inform the rights of an individual, to strengthen emotions to those who are victims, and of course to prevent any mistreatment before it occurs.

In the Journal of JAMA, Volume 302: Issue no. 5 published on August 5 2009 Elder Self-neglect and Abuse and Mortality Risk in a Community-Dwelling Population. The authors: X. Dong, MD, Melissa Simon, MD, Mph, Carols Mendes de Leon, PhD, Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, Todd Beck, MS, Liesi Herbert, ScD, Carmel Dyer, MD, Gregory Paveza PhD, MSW, Denis Evans, MD argue that both elder self-neglect and abuse is becoming more clear in regards to public health concerns, and that elder self-neglect or abuse is linked with mortality and not just on those that were vulnerable. In addition, that both elder neglect and abuse reported to social agencies there was an increased risk of mortality (Dong et al., 2009, p. 517).

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

When one mentions abuse and neglect we often think of children first, but they are not the only ones who are being abused or neglected. According to Forman and McBride (2010), the elderly population experiences abuse and mistreatment at outstanding rates. They can be subjected to physical abuse, emotion abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.

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.,

To better understand the scope of the problem, it is crucial that society knows what is considered as elder abuse and why it is important to resolve this issue. Elder abuse refers to any intentional or negligent act by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or a risk of harm to a vulnerable adult. There are many forms in which an elder can be abused, “Elder Abuse and Neglect” Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services distinguishes between the five most common types of elder abuse as well as their effects and/or common signs and symptoms for each. These types of abuse include physical abuse,

Elder abuse is linked to significant health issues, such as increased morbidity and premature mortality (Baker, Francis, Hairi, Othman, & Choo, 2016). Another type of maltreatment of older people is neglect, which is defined as a lack of action by a caregiver required to meet the needs of an older adult, such as withholding medications or medical treatment, and not providing adequate food, clothing, shelter, or hygiene (“County of Riverside,”

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

Although it does not usually make news headlines and is rarely discussed, nursing home residents and the elderly experience abuse sometimes on a daily basis. Medical errors, physical abuse, or stealing from them could all be classified as abuse. All around the world today, a population that is not able to help itself is being harmed, whether it is physical or sexual abuse, exploitation, or not being properly supervised; the elderly and nursing home residents are being abused.

A social issue that is important to acknowledge is the abuse of older people. For so many years, elder abuse has been a hidden yet growing problem in the United States. This problem is recognized as a tragedy that impacts older adults of all races, cultures, sexual orientations, social class and geographic areas. Additionally, this is a critical public health problem that has negative consequences on the health and well-being of older adults. Although the definitions of elder abuse vary, the U.S Administration on Aging (AOA) describes it as physical, sexual, neglect, self-neglect, exploitation, emotional abuse, and abandonment (2016). To further explain, physical abuse can be inflicting pain or injury such as slapping, bruising, or

Therefore, the research problem was that there has been little empirical research about elder neglect and abuse in nursing homes using the National Ombudsman Reporting System (Bloemen et al., 2015). The study is a descriptive research with a retrospective design (Bloemen et al., 2015). In addition, the study sample was 11,749 abuse and neglect complaints from 2006-2013 (Bloemen et al., 2015). Furthermore, the authors used the simple linear regression analysis to evaluate trends over time (Bloemen et al., 2015). The operationalization of constructs was six types of complaints which included physical, sexual, verbal abuse, financial exploitation, neglect, and resident to resident abuse (Bloemen et al., 2015). The study findings showed majority of the abuse complaints were physical abuse complaints made by a non-resident (Bloemen et al., 2015). As a result, the physical abuse complaints made by a non-resident was 28% of the investigated complaints (Bloemen et al., 2015). In addition, the study results showed a decrease in the amount of reports reported to the local long-term care ombudsmen from 7.5 to 5.6 reports per 1,000 beds (Bloemen et al., 2015). Therefore, the study implications show that it is essential that the nursing home residents are aware of their rights and the process for reporting

An estimated 700,000 to 1.2 million elders in the United States (U.S.) annually suffer mistreatment at the hands of others or self; 450,000 new cases are identified each year (C, F. N. 2012). Though these numbers are alarmingly high, there really is not much elder abuse awareness. Available information tends to come from small, non-representative samples; agency and caregiver reports; and the criminal justice system (C, F.N. 2012). I actually think that people outside of family members tend to forget about elderly folks that are in these homes and put into such situations. Each year numerous numbers of older adults experience abuse, neglect, and exploitation by those who are expected to safeguard them and protect their interests.

Many elderly people experience different forms of abuse and neglect. “According to the World Health Organization, as of October 2015, about one in 10 older people experience abuse every month. This can involve physical, sexual, psychological or financial abuse or neglect.” (Calls for national plan to tackle abuse of elderly) The elderly cannot protect themselves from abuse and if they say something about being abused they may not get listened to. Elderly people are overlooked in today’s society. About 50,000 people over 65 years old have experienced some form of abuse. (Calls for national plan to tackle abuse of elderly)