Elder abuse on rise, but so is response
By Barbara Quirk — 9/01/2008
It's enough to make a grown man cry.
A new study conducted at the University of Chicago concludes that nearly 13 percent of America's older adults suffer some form of abuse. Specifically, 9 percent reported they have suffered from verbal mistreatment, 3.5 percent from financial mistreatment, and 0.2 percent from physical mistreatment.
What this study cannot illustrate is the pain, ruin, shame and despair that are inflicted on some of our most vulnerable citizens. Our papers are full of stories of child abuse, horrific in detail. Domestic abuse is often described after someone is brutally injured or murdered. Even animal abuse is covered in the media. The dirty little secret that receives so little attention is elder abuse. An older person is seen bruised, broken or bleeding and even medical personnel, who should know better, don't question the source. Old people fall and get injured, right?
Sadly, abuse comes from many places, including fellow residents in nursing homes, personal attendants and scammers who bilk vulnerable older citizens out of millions of dollars each year. Even more tragic is the abuse that comes at the hands of family. In times of financial uncertainty, one can expect financial abuse to be on the rise. The problem is complex because the older person is often too embarrassed or ashamed to admit that a son or daughter or, God forbid, a grandchild may be abusing them in some way.
If you are being abused or suspect someone you know is being abused, call the Elder Abuse Helpline: 261-9933.
(Barbara Quirk is a Madison geriatric nurse practitioner.)
Abridged
SOURCE: The Capital Times
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