Elder abuse is responsible for a huge number of abuse victims in the United States and throughout the world. Because the elderly can often not see well, not hear well, and confused more often, they are prime candidates for abuse by those around them, including family, friends, caretakers, and medical professionals. Some elder abuse is not intentional but more a result of the family member not being aware of just how much help and how much care their elderly loved ones need so those needs go unmet. At least that is so for elder neglect.
Elder abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual, financial, or neglect. The elderly are more fragile than younger adults and are easier targets. They often don’t know what is happening to them. They may also be aware of what is happening to them but be so frightened to speak up that they don’t say anything.
One of the types of abuses that the elderly are more susceptible to is financial abuse. They often trust others to take care of paying their bills and dealing with their banks. Often this is because they don’t see well enough or don’t hear well enough to deal with banks and businesses, especially over the phone. They hand over their finances to a family member or a “trusted” friend/neighbor. Then all of the sudden, their financial situation is far worse than they thought they should be because the person who has been taking care of their finances has actually been helping themselves to the finances.
The elderly are also prime candidates to be abused by people in care taking positions who often get paid for performing jobs for and around the elderly that are never actually done. They just bill the hours and get paid, whether they do the job or not. Often, those caretakers who are supposed to dispense medications to the elderly either dispense too much medication or not enough. This adds to the medical problems of the elderly.
The suffering of elderly abuse victims is a silent suffering. We should all be on the watch for signs of elderly abuse in those around us and try to do something about it when we suspect it. You don’t have to prove your suspicions. You just need to contact the proper authorities and they will investigate.
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Great post Corina!
For several years I witnessed a fairly old man abuse both his parents. I’d see them at Walmart, the son was always yelling and screaming at his parents, it was horrible. If he treated them that badly in public I wonder what they must have gone through behind closed doors. I even saw this son treat his parents horribly at a health clinic. I only hope someone eventually reported him.
Shelly @ http://hangryfork.com
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It’s so sad that a son would treat his own parents like this, especially after all his parents must have done for him. I hope someone reported it.
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Working for a lawyer who does estate planning and elder law, etc., I see a lot of elder abuse. We have reported it on more than one occasion. The abused person almost always denies any abuse however. Mainly out of fear that the abuse will increase or fear that the person will no longer take care of them, and they need assistance from someone, and the fear of being placed in a care facility terrifies most…for good reason. So much abuse going on there too!
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I agree. It is terrifying for a lot of elders to imagine that things will change, even if they might be changing for the better. Change is terrifying when you don’t see well, can’t hear, and are often confused. The world is spinning out of control for them and they want to remain in some control so they fight change.
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Corina, this is such a sad and horrid situation. My great-grandmother was abused in the nursing home (after my aunt just couldn’t take care of her any more). Because she had Alzheimer’s and was a “wanderer” they would tie her to a chair, tied to something more solid… Thankfully my aunt went for a surprise visit and caught them. She was removed from their immediately but how horrible to entrust your loved ones to places like these?
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