Frail Elderly Are At Risk for Abuse

A Crisis We Can, and Must, Avoid
By Ken Connor
Christian Post Guest Columnist
Tue, May. 06 2008 04:20 PM ET

Our economy, while currently growing at a solid pace and performing well by most standards, is headed for trouble.

America's frail elderly are already at risk for abuse and exploitation. Apart from the unborn, there is no group that suffers more from the "disposable man" ethic that is the legacy of Roe v. Wade. All over America, our elders in long-term care institutions suffer from abuse and neglect. But the perpetrators are not only to be found in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Sadly, the largest group of perpetrators is to be found among the families of the victims. A recent study by the National Research Council estimated that there are between one and two million cases of elder abuse in the U.S.
The Senate Special Committee on Aging estimates that there may be as many as four times as many cases of elder abuse that go unreported. How much worse is the problem likely to become as respect for human life in our society decreases and the pressure on the young to care for the old increases?Americans in search of a just society should seek to foster an honest and immediate debate over how we will care for our elderly, how much we are willing to spend in so doing, and how we can deal fairly with younger generations in the process. We need to ask ourselves how the utilitarian arguments that are increasingly being urged in the bio-medical arena impact the disabled and the frail elderly. We need leaders in Washington and in the state houses of America, who are willing, if need be, to completely revamp the way in which we care for the elderly.

Abridged
SOURCE: ChristianPost
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