A Victim's Daughter Fights Back Against Elder Abuse (USA)

Re-release of Paradise Costs-A Victim's Daughter Fights Back Against Elder Abuse
Marks International Elder Awareness Day; June 15, 2008

NEW YORK, NY- Bennett Blum, M.D., internationally acclaimed forensic and geriatric psychiatrist and an expert in undue influence, has added his pioneering work to that of author Irene A. Masiello in Paradise Costs-A Victim's Daughter Fights Back Against Elder Abuse, the heart-wrenching story of an infirm, 80-year-old man with Alzheimer's who was taken from his family, stripped of his assets and exploited despite the pleas of his next of kin.

Masiello supports her father's tragic story with his suspicious forensic report exemplifying a terrifying reality facing the elderly in America today. Created in a workbook format with prewritten reality writing letters as tear-outs, her book urges Americans to take action in support of federal legislation to stop elder abuse now.


Driven by grim statistics from national elder advocacy groups indicating there may be more than 25 million cases of elder exploitation in America, Dr. Blum and Ms. Masiello have joined forces to inform readers via a compelling true story while providing professional psychological assessment guidelines which are recognized and taught to professionals throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Dr. Blum has included his "Evaluating Mental Capacity, PARADISE 2 Model of Mental Capacity" and his "IDEAL Worksheet©," an acronym (Isolation, Dependency, Emotional manipulation and/or Exploitation of vulnerability, Acquiescence, Loss) inspired by his model for analyzing potential undue influence which combines his expert knowledge in psychiatry, psychology and sociology regarding the mechanisms of human manipulation.

Mario Masiello, a hearing-impaired, honorably discharged, World War II veteran, retired from the NYC Transit Authority and relocated to the quaint town of Walterboro, SC. Twenty years later, his blissful life was ravaged by the death of his wife and by several illnesses including diabetes, Alzheimer's and depression. Paradise Costs tells the chilling true story of the last years of his life when he was "grandpa-napped" from his family by neighbors and "friends."

"I never thought this type of betrayal and brutality could happen in my family," says his daughter. "My experience has made me realize how little people know about the deadly American pandemic that is elder abuse."

The American Psychological Association estimates that approximately 2.1 million senior citizens are victims of physical and psychological neglect and abuse every year. The numbers are grossly misleading for too many cases go unreported while most people are unaware or under-informed of elder abuse's broader definitions.

Ms. Masiello's objective is to provide a voice to the millions of victims that fall through the cracks every year. As readers accompany the Masiello family along their horrific journey they can't help but recognize and call for legislation that could prevent their own families from being victimized by this fast-growing phenomenon that's robbing our seniors of their dignity and right to life while causing pain and hardship for their loved ones.

The prefabricated "tear-out" letters and petitions to government officials contained in Paradise Costs are designed to create a reality-writing campaign. They are also available as free downloads at the book's website, www.ParadiseCosts.com. Readers can follow simple directions on how to e-mail legislators right from the site.

"I'm urging participation via our interactive book and website to lobby legislators to pass the Elder Justice Act now on the floor of both Houses of Congress," says the author. "Hopefully, others will be spared the suffering my father was forced to endure, and their families will not have to look on helplessly in horror as mine did."

Dr. Blum states, "Paradise Costs is a tragic, true-life tale. Unfortunately, the behaviors depicted in this book are all too common. No one knows how often criminals, 'brand new best friends' or family members exploit the elderly..Money has always been associated with the worst of human behavior. Elder financial abuse is no exception. Some of those taking assets from the elderly have been tied to gang violence, prostitution and drug trafficking. Their elderly victims are often subjected to physical abuse, neglect, abandonment, sexual abuse and murder."

Recognizing the difficulty of the aftermath of this tragedy, Ms. Masiello is determined not to let her father's death be in vain. "My goal now is to take my story to the nation and raise awareness of this deplorable social ill that's plaguing America," she says.

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Dr. Blum & Ms. Masiello are Members of the Elder Justice Coalition

Irene A. Masiello
Author: Paradise Costs-
A Victim's Daughter Fights Back Against Elder Abuse
Afterword by: Bennett Blum, M.D.
www.ParadiseCosts.com
www.BennettBlumMD.com
BennettBlum@aol.com



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Elder Abusers Do Not Come From a Particular Group

Elder Abusers Do Not Come From a Particular Socio-Economic Group
By Andrew C

A few reports from researchers claimed that elder abusers are often from a particular socio-economic group. That is, according to those studies, the abusers are likely to be people who have mental illness, a substance abuse, or are just dependent on parents for financial support.

I beg to differ, for the following reasons:

• We all agree that elder abuse is under-reported; therefore, many cases involving family members just are not available for studies.
• Just like other crimes, for instance, pedophile, the perpetrators are not just from one particular socio-economic group.
• Data samples in researches may not be as extensive as they should.
  

Just like our attitudes towards child abuse all those years ago, many just find it difficult to believe that even educated and/or wealthy people can still abuse children.

I am putting this forward for greater discussion because the case that I witnessed and have ample documentary evidence, involved two well educated persons. Believe it or not; one of them is a psychologist. Frankly, if I had not witnessed the case, I might not have believed it either.

The abuses and neglect span a period of over 8 years. Many close relatives of the victims just cannot believe what had gone on.

Some visitors to my blog have contacted me with their own story of elder abuse of a relative (more often a parent) who have been “controlled” and/or abused by another member of the family.

Many of us just do not want to get involved with cases that we thought involved family dynamics. “We do not want to get in the middle of sibling squabbles”, is one common response.

Family dynamics can be extremely complex. Even experts may have trouble sorting out family dynamics. However, family “secrets” and squabbles should not be an excuse for us to turn away from helping victims of elder abuse. The difficult is that victims in private homes are often reluctant to report abuses. They are fearful of losing the support and love of family members.

This is my greatest fear – that we ignore the abovementioned cases that are “hidden” in private homes.

Abusers in these “hidden” cases cannot rely on the excuse of generally accepted premise of “privacy in the home”.

Just consider for one moment, the serious consequences for elder abuse victims who have been abused by their adult children or partner. Who can they turn to? Who would be prepared to look into the family dynamics? Who would believe them? Who cares?

Until elder abuse is given the same serious treatment as child abuse, we cannot pretend that we are doing the best for victims of elder abuse; the Voiceless.

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Elder Abuse Is Not Acceptable In Any Language

(logo credits - INPEA)

Elder Abuse is NOT acceptable in any language, culture or settings.
By Andrew C

(INPEA)

Elder Abuse is NOT acceptable in any language, culture or settings.

What is Elder Abuse and Neglect?

“Elder Abuse and Neglect is a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person.” It can be of various forms -- physical, psychological/emotional, sexual, or financial/material abuse, and/or intentional or unintentional neglect.
(Definition from Toronto Declaration on the Global Prevention of Elder Abuse, 2002)

Most of us get to know about elder abuse through media reports of horrible cases in nursing homes; or the unimaginable physical abuse or neglect of elderly persons in private homes.

Elder Abuse is a complex issue. We may have to rely on experts for more research data on statistics and the causes of elder abuse. However, one does not have to be a gerontologist to recognize the devastating effect on an older person who had been abused.

Who are the elder abusers? They may be:

• Family members
• Friends
• Neighbors
• Hired caregivers
• Persons with fiduciary/legal obligations; such as a Durable/Enduring Power of Attorney.

Many researches have come up with similar findings:

• That majority of the abusers are adult children or other close relatives;
• That elder abuse is under-reported;
• That it is on the increase.

Financial exploitation is fast becoming one of the most prominent types of elder abuse.
Scammers often target the elderly. Law enforcement agencies are starting to train their members in recognizing scammers. Public authorities should raise awareness of this issue.

Family Members As Abusers

It is sad to see that some adult children have an extreme sense of entitlement of their parents’ money/assets. Many adult children just do not want to wait till the passing of their parents, before getting their inheritance.

It is a human right to expect life in later years to be one of serenity, dignity and security.

No, it is not acceptable for anyone, not even our own children, to deprive us of that peace, security and dignity in our senior years.

This is the case - wherever we live, what ever race or religion we belong to; we should not be abused because of our age.

On this 3rd World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, 15 June 2008:

Let us not forget the untold sufferings of the victims of elder abuse.

Let us honor the work of all those who worked hard in elder abuse prevention and awareness programs.

Let us unite to expose and to stamp out the ‘Silent Crime of the Century’.
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Online Community For Family Carers and Nurses (UK)

INTEL launches online community to connect family carers and nurses in the UK
12-Jun-08

ConnectingForCare.co.uk Brings Together the Carer Community, Resources and Shared Experiences to Improve Healthcare and Quality of Life for Carers, Patients and Families
LONDON, UK, 12 June, 2008 - With a goal to assist carers in the United Kingdom, Intel Corporation today unveiled ConnectingForCare.co.uk, the first online community of its kind for family carers, community and district nurses, healthcare assistants, social care workers and others to share information and provide emotional support to one another, filling a void in today's healthcare system.

The Carers Week survey results announced this week revealed that 77 percent feel their health is worse as a result of the strain of caring, and well over half have not had a chance to discuss their concerns about their mental or physical health with someone else, either a friend or healthcare professional. ConnectingForCare.co.uk offers a gateway for communication with other carers which may help alleviate the isolation that many carers experience on a daily basis.

(Please go to source for more details)

Abridged
SOURCE: HealthCareRepublic


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Task Force Aims to Stop Crimes Against Elderly (USA)

Task force aims to stop crimes against elderly
Two lawmakers create task force to prevent and prosecute elder abuse crimes.
EDWARD LEWIS
June 13, 2008

WILKES-BARRE – Prosecutors know elder abuse sometimes goes unreported.
Two state lawmakers came together to create a multi-agency task force to educate the public and prevent and prosecute crimes committed against senior citizens.

On Thursday, state representatives Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, and Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, announced the formation of a 33-member Elder Abuse Task Force.
The task force is made up of law enforcement, prosecutors, lawmakers, educators, and social service providers who will soon begin a public awareness campaign in Luzerne and Wyoming counties.

Luzerne County District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll said seniors are sometimes ashamed to report crimes. She said the task force will provide the resources to help those victims.
“We are here, we are about you, we will do whatever we can to help,” Musto Carroll said.
Wyoming County District Attorney George Skumanick pledged to prosecute criminals who target elders.
“I can guarantee you, we will be using the resources of our office,” Skumanick said. “You will be held responsible.”
Skumanick said the task force will provide training for police officers to easily recognize elder abuse.

Abridged
SOURCE: TimesLeaderNews


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1500 Cases of Elder Abuse Reported Last Year (Ireland)

1,500 cases of elder abuse reported in past year
Friday, June 13, 2008

Officials investigating abuse against the elderly have reportedly dealt with 1,500 referrals in the past 12 months.
Reports this morning say 150 of those cases have led to consultation with Gardai.

More than four-in-five cases related to elderly people living in the home, while the alleged abuser was a family member in 96% of cases.

The referrals involve alleged physical, psychological and financial abuse, as well as neglect.
The statistics are due to be published by the HSE today at a conference in Cork to discuss the issue of elder abuse.

SOURCE: BelfastTelegraph
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Task Force Looks to Protect Seniors (Pa. USA)

Efforts to include police training, cooperation among agencies.
By Brian Callaway Of The Morning Call
June 12, 2008

Spurred in part by grisly crimes against senior citizens, Lehigh County officials have formed a task force to raise awareness of elder abuse and combat it.

The task force, which includes prosecutors, police, social workers and others, will be introduced today during a press conference at the county government center in Allentown.

Thousands of Pennsylvania's seniors fall victim to abuse, neglect or financial exploitation each year, but task force members said there's relatively low awareness of such offenses.

Thousands of Pennsylvania's seniors fall victim to abuse, neglect or financial exploitation each year, but task force members said there's relatively low awareness of such offenses.

''Child abuse people are very familiar with,'' said Donna Zimmerman, executive director of the Lehigh County Office of Aging and Adult Services. ''But this is something that is relatively new in the public's eye.''

In 2006, for instance, 76-year-old Marie Dettra of Allentown died of starvation and dehydration barely an hour after police and paramedics found her sitting in a chair with three-quarters of an inch of feces on the floor and sores that had eaten through her flesh. She weighed 70 pounds.

Her son, David J. Dettra III, pleaded guilty last year to involuntary manslaughter for failing to care for her. He was sentenced to two and five years in state prison.

Judith Lieberman, chairwoman of a senior-oriented volunteer group called Lehigh County TRIAD, said she hopes the task force not only raises awareness amongst the public, but also encourages more seniors who are victims to come forward.

''They're ashamed to talk about it,'' she said. ''They're afraid people will think they're stupid.''

Abridged
SOURCE: MCallNews


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Elder Abuse Investigation: Where Does Buck Stop (USA)

Shelly's column: Where does buck stop on abuse of elderly?
By Barb Shelly
Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Submitted by barbshelly on June 12, 2008 - 3:20pm.

Glenda Grimes described her mother’s death to police as “a gateway to a better world.”
Certainly, the world that 72-year-old Glenda Stevens knew in her final days was wretched.
An autopsy showed she was suffering from an untreated broken leg. She was malnourished. She had rib fractures, bed sores, cuts and bruises. The cause of death was listed as multiple blunt force.

Court documents detail other acts of cruelty. Grimes was tied to a potty chair for hours at a time. She was deprived of her life’s possessions and left to wither without diversions or acts of kindness.

Prosecutors this month charged Grimes, of Lee’s Summit, with second-degree murder. Jackson County Prosecutor Jim Kanatzar called Stevens’ death the worst case of elder abuse he’d seen.
It should have been prevented.

Prosecutors this month charged Grimes, of Lee’s Summit, with second-degree murder. Jackson County Prosecutor Jim Kanatzar called Stevens’ death the worst case of elder abuse he’d seen.
It should have been prevented.
Interviews conducted by Lee’s Summit police following Stevens’ death show that family members knew she was being mistreated.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services had received at least three hot line calls about Stevens’ well-being.
An investigator from the department checked on Stevens in June 2006 and observed bruises on her hand, burn marks on her arm and an unexplained mark on her face.
With Grimes sitting nearby, Stevens cowered and glanced her way before responding to investigator Dee Singleton’s questions.
“…I suspect physical abuse is occurring,” Singleton wrote in her report.
Yet Stevens remained with her daughter, and was increasingly isolated from other members of the family, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office.

Gov. Matt Blunt’s spokeswoman said he was troubled by the case and added, “While calls to the Elder Abuse and Neglect Hotline and related investigations are confidential… the governor expects the department to appropriately investigate and take action on situations of suspected elder abuse.”

The message is clear: Responsibility for investigating the Department of Health and Senior Services’s handling of the Stevens case rests with the department. The public will never know what happened.

That’s wrong from any angle. The public can’t learn whether the department made mistakes, and the department can’t exonerate itself if it didn’t.
A change in state law is needed. Records on elderly abuse cases should be treated the same as case files on child abuse.

Abridged
SOURCE: VoicesKansasCity
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Lip Service to Elder Abuse Prevention - (Victoria, Australia)

TWO YEARS AND COUNTING FOR ELDER ABUSE VICTIMS

Thursday, 14 June 2007
Author : Mary Wooldridge MLA

The Bracks Government has played lip service to elder abuse prevention for eight years but failed to address this community crisis.

On the eve of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (June 15), Shadow Minister for Aged Care Mary Wooldridge said in the two years since the establishment of Labor's Elder Abuse Prevention Project more than 40,000* cases of elder abuse have gone unreported and undetected.

"The reality is that Victoria has no central database to record incidents of abuse, neglect or exploitation of vulnerable adults, and the Government has failed to provide statistics or data stating the exact number of cases of elder abuse in Victoria.

Elder abuse can take the form of physical, emotional or psychological abuse of an older and vulnerable person at the hands of a family member, carer or an institution.

The Bracks Government initially promised nearly $6 million for elder abuse prevention but to date has only funded a mere $2.64 million.

"This amount will not appropriately fund essential services, such as the older persons' legal service and the community education service, and what has happened to the rest of the funding Labor committed?" Ms Wooldridge said.

In June 2006, the then Minister for Aged Care announced that these services were to be in operation by the end of the year. Now, a year later, thousands of cases of elder abuse continue to go undetected because there are no avenues for reporting.

Labor says it takes elder abuse seriously. In fact as a commemoration to World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, it will host a largely unpublicised and selective forum to which the Minister will not attend.

In addition there is still no commitment as to when the Older Person's Legal Service and the Community Education Service will actually commence.

While we recognise World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, everyday is elder abuse day. Everyday, hundreds of senior Victorians are victims of abuse.

It is about time the Bracks Government acts to ensure the health, safety and well-being of our senior Victorians.

Source: LiberalDotOrg
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Elder Abuse Awareness Day Events (Canada)

Attention News/Assignment Editors:

Invitation to the media - 15 000 balloons to be released - June 15th - "ARRETEZ D'ABUSER BEATRICE"

MONTREAL, June 12 /CNW Telbec/ - It is estimated in Quebec that 450 000
seniors over 65 years of age are victims of mistreatment and physical,
psychological and financial abuse in their homes and in private and public
seniors' homes.
June 15th is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day where communities and
municipalities of the world hold special awareness events that highlight the
significance of abuse as a public health and human rights issue.
No country or community in the world is immunized against this social
deficit.
In Quebec, local and regional awareness activities have been held
(awareness conferences, exchange forums, theatre plays, promotional tools,
radio commercials, etc.). At the provincial level, June 15th the release of
15 000 biodegradable balloons at precisely 15h00 province-wide will re-enforce
this year's provincial awareness poster adult (Beatrice), to "ARRETEZ D'ABUSER
BEATRICE".
Over 200 seniors will be present at one of the major rally points at
ACHIM, 5940 blvd Monk in Montréal on June 15th. The media are invited to
witness this worldwide situation that is elder abuse.

The Réseau québécois pour contrer les abus envers les aînés is a network
which unites 600 social, judicial and community practitioners who work
together to develop tools of detection, intervention and prevention in the
matter of elder abuse. The RQCAA is a member of the Canadian Network for the
prevention of elder abuse.

For further information: Hélène Wavroch, director RQCAA, (514) 270-2777,
(514) 835-9079 cellular, hwavroch@rqcaa.org

SOURCE: NewswireCanada
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