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Essay On Elder Abuse

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Within the next 20 years the population of older adults will likely outnumber the population of children in this country. The combination of this swiftly increasing population and the latest assessments of the increasing rate of established cases of elder abuse suggest that the issue of elder abuse will continue to grow without significant means for deterrence and intermediation. Due to age-related declines in cognitive functioning and other vulnerabilities such as difficulties with mobility, isolation, medication, and dependence, older adults are uniquely attractive to criminal predators (Lindberg, Sabatino, & Blancato, 2011). Elder financial exploitation is an especially cumbersome matter to address because of difficulties in identifying …show more content…

It has earmarked $777 million over a four year span to increase aid to elder victim services such as Adult Protective Services and Forensic Centers. The EJA also establishes an Elder Justice Coordinating Council and a National Advisory Board (Dong, 2012). According to Kohl, Sanders, and Blumenthal (2012) “To date, however, major steps forward in national policy and strategy on elder abuse have not been taken, in part because Congress has failed to provide sufficient funding” (p. 107). There has been slight progress on the issue with the initiation of a 5.5 million stipend to states to test pilot programs for vulnerable populations of older adults (Kohl, et al., 2012).
The addition of the Elder Justice Act brings some hope for long-term attention to the issue of elder abuse. This country is extremely unprepared for the magnitude of issues that will erupt with the growth of the older population. Healthcare services, community-based and home-based services, and long-term care facilities are going to be seriously taxed over the next 20 years. It is necessary to address elder abuse prevention, education, and intervention thoroughly in the short-term while considerations are somewhat manageable. As stated by Greenlee (2012), “This is not solely a federal issue, this is a national crisis” (p. 8). If we consider the protection of older adults as a national responsibility, it is clear that advocacy and

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