Scams, self-neglect are top concerns
By FELICIA THOMAS-LYNN fthomas-lynn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Jan. 12, 2008
Marian Witter was excited when the voice on the other end of her phone line said she would be mailed a new Medicare card in 20 days.
"I was thinking, I would like a new card," said the 78-year-old retired retail merchandiser. "My card is looking a little shabby."
After giving her birth date to the man, who said he was calling from Medicare, she started to get suspicious when he then asked her for bank account information and her Social Security number.
"That is not to be given to anyone," Witter told the caller and hung up.
She immediately placed a call to Medicare and learned that the agency wasn't sending new Medicare cards. "It was a scam."
Witter shared the story of what happened to her with her friends at the Grobschmidt Senior Center in South Milwaukee.
Witter was among a growing number of seniors being targeted for financial scams. There were at least 917 reports of people older than 60 who were targets or victims of financial exploitation, according to the state's 2006 Elder Abuse and Neglect report.
Overall, 4,372 cases of abuse, neglect or financial exploitation were reported in 2006, including 24 fatalities. Another 260 were considered life-threatening.
"Elder abuse can be very undercover and hidden," said Ramona Williams, coordinator of the adult protective services program for the Milwaukee County Department of Aging.
The steady rise in the number of cases against the elderly, particularly those ending in death, has led the department to join forces with the Medical College of Wisconsin's Center for Healthy Communities and other senior advocates in a new multilevel approach to protecting seniors.
Called Stop Abuse and Neglect of Elders, or SANE, the project strives to protect older adults from abuse and neglect and bring hidden problems into the light.
The initiative, which received a $450,000 Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program grant last year, is focused on educating front-line responders in medical, home health and emergency response services to be able to spot the warning signs of elder abuse and neglect.
"It is under-recognized by health care providers," said Linda Meurer, a family physician with the Center of Healthy Communities. "Elders get very frail and very dependent, and it can lead to abuse. Oftentimes the abuser is a child of theirs that they want to protect."
An even larger problem, she said, is self-neglect. The number of self-neglect cases jumped 5.86%, to 2,367, in 2006.
And, Meurer said, it could get worse. "As our population ages, self-neglect is certainly going to be a greater problem."
The number of Americans older than 65 is expected to reach 71.5 million - or 1 out of every 5 people - by 2030, twice the number in 2000, according to the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging.
Through the initiative, front-line workers will be trained on what to look for when responding to the needs of at-risk elders, including unexplained weight loss, dehydration, malnutrition, declining hygiene, injuries, cuts and bruises.
"The goal of the project is to make people aware so that elders can get the help that they need," she said.
Faces of Hope focuses on Milwaukee-area people who need a hand and the agencies that are helping them. Ideas? Call urban affairs reporter Felicia Thomas-Lynn at (414) 224-2073, or e-mail fthomas-lynn@journalsentinel.com.
How To Help
If you know an older person who is homebound and isolated, unable to care for himself or herself or being hurt by someone, you can help by calling the Milwaukee County Department on Aging at (414) 289-6874.
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