Elder Abuse and Caregiving Resource Materials (CANADA)

by Lynne Butler

September 13, 2010

For those of you who have asked me how you can get copies of the booklets and checklists I have from the National Initiative for Care of the Elderly, click on this link to get to the page for ordering their tools. Once you're on the page, you can click on the topics on the left hand side of the page if you want to know more about them.

You might also like:

Canadian Elder Abuse Training and Information Forum

Most elder financial abuse is by family & caregivers

Elder financial abuse and exploitation

SOURCE:   Estate Law Canada
________________________________________

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources

Nurse Charged With Felony Elder Abuse (USA)

 September 13, 2010

 by Jessica Navarro

According to a report posted on Bakersfield.com, a nurse in a hospital has been arrested and charged with abuse of an elderly patient. 65-year-old Rene Gachon Gotico was arrested on the 23rd of August after the hospital employees reported the incident.

The 79-year-old patient was reportedly sitting on the edge of the bed requesting help to go to the bathroom. Gotico reportedly refused to help and even grabbed the elderly woman by the neck and pushed her back onto the bed when she attempted to stand on her own to go to the bathroom. The nursing supervisor saw the incident occur and immediately contacted the emergency room director. Sherriff’s Department officers were contacted thereafter and arrested Gotico.

When a person decides to live in a nursing home, it is an important decision because the care could be long term or short term. As a family safety and proper medical care is essential to the quality of life for the elderly residing in a home. When making this decision, it is extremely important that you look into the history of the facility including if there are any medical malpractice suits currently active against the facility or if there were any in the past. Medical malpractice is a very serious offense that can place your loved ones in an extremely dangerous situation depending on the severity.

Types of malpractice vary from overall negligence, physical, emotional or sexual abuse, medical abuse such as abuse of medications or improper regulation of an individual’s care (such as mismanagement of medicinal necessities, etc). The types of physical abuse can differ from situation and often people do not notice the physical implications of abuse, but it is important to take notice of these signs in order to stop future abuse from happening. Even something like keeping a person from using the bathroom, such as this incident, can be constituted as physical abuse.

SOURCE:    The Guardian Blog
________________________________________

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources

Legal Issues in Deciding Elderly & Nursing Home Care (USA)

egal Issues in Deciding Elderly & Nursing Home Care

By Elissa Bassini, eHow Contributor

September 13, 2010

Elderly and nursing home care is a medical specialty. Elderly patients often suffer from medical conditions that require them to have ready and continual health care assistance in their homes or in facilities that specialize in seniors. There are several important legal issues that health care providers and seniors and their families must consider when deciding on care options. These include the patient's right to make her own health care decisions and to choose her home care provider, the offense of "elder abuse" committed either by caregivers or the elder's own family members, legal rights of nursing home residents, and the financial concerns involved in paying for in-home or nursing home care.

Patients' Right to Make Health Care Decisions

Every competent adult has the legal right to make decisions concerning his own health care. Elderly patients, however, frequently suffer from conditions like dementia that render them unable to make or enforce their own informed decisions. The law recognizes the right of elderly patients to still have their choices respected despite any present incapacity. For example, many states provide the right to make advance health care directives instructing medical providers and families as to chosen methods of care in the event of incapacity. Accordingly, in making decisions concerning an elderly patient's care, providers and family are legally obligated to respect his pertinent directives; these might include his chosen health agency, the types of treatment he would accept or reject, and whether he would want professional home or nursing home care at all.

Patients' Right to Choose the Home Health Care Provider

Once an elderly patient (or someone properly appointed to make decisions on his behalf) decides to get home health care, she has the right to decide which health care service provider to have in her home; it also requires medical professionals to inform the patient both of this right and of the specific available in-home options. However, physicians affiliated with hospitals often ignore this duty to inform; rather, they may refer a patient to their hospital's home care agencies to the exclusion of other options. This practice violates the patient's federal rights. There are, in fact, many competent home care providers from which a patient may choose. The objective is to make the informed decision to which the patient is legally entitled.

Abridged
SOURCE:    eHow

_________________________________________

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources

Eye on Abuse: Seniors Often Can't Help Selves When Being Victimized

Eye on abuse: Seniors often can’t help selves when being victimized

September 10, 2010

It’s a hard fact for people who love and cherish their elderly relatives to grasp, but hundreds of thousands of older adults in this country are abused every year. And those victimizing them are often family members, friends or others in whom they placed their trust.

Umeika Stephens, APRN-BC, a nurse practitioner in Depression Care/Behavioral Health Services at Dearborn’s Henry Ford Medical Center-Fairlane, says frail older adults who depend on others are the ones who are most often victimized. She says the abuse can take many forms.

“We tend to think of abuse as primarily physical, sexual or emotional, and abuse of the elderly does, sadly, take all of those forms. But it also often includes neglecting their basic needs and leaving them alone when they are unable to care for themselves.”

Stephens says older adults who saved all of their lives so they would have financial security often fall victims to unscrupulous friends, relatives or strangers who take or con them out of money or property. Often, it’s their own children who take advantage of them.

There is no typical victim, and no typical setting. It happens to elderly people who live in their own home, or with a relative, or in a hospital or nursing home. Stephens says it’s a situation that can affect anyone.

“Demographics don’t play a role. We find abuse of the elderly across ethnic, economic and religious backgrounds.”

Among those most at risk, though, are people with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.

Stephens says abusers may use violence, intimidation and threats to get their way. They also may try to control their victim’s lives, even deciding who is allowed to visit and where they can go.

The person who is being victimized often isn’t able to get help for himself or herself.

Either they’re not healthy enough to, or they’re too embarrassed to seek help. So it’s important for friends and family to watch for signs their loved one is in jeopardy.

The National Center on Elder Abuse (ncea.aoa.gov) lists a number of warning signs to watch for.

• Physical abuse – slap marks, unexplained bruises, most pressure marks and certain types of burns or blisters, such as cigarette burns.

• Neglect –- pressure ulcers, filth, lack of medical care, malnutrition or dehydration.

• Emotional abuse –- Withdrawal from normal activities, unexplained changes in alertness or other unusual behavioral changes.

• Sexual abuse – bruises around the breasts or genital area and unexplained sexually transmitted diseases.

• Financial abuse/exploitation – sudden change in finances and accounts, altered wills and trusts, unusual bank withdrawals, checks written as loans or gifts, and loss of property.

People who care for someone with dementia need to learn about the disease and how to prevent them from being abused.

Anyone who suspects their loved one is in immediate danger should call 911 or the police department. If their life isn’t in immediate danger, the suspected abuse should be reported to Adult Abuse reporting and Protective Services. In Michigan, the number to call is (800) 996-6228.

Stephens says it’s important for people who are being abused to know that help is available.

“If there is someone they trust that they can confide in, they should ask that person for help. If not they can call the Eldercare Locator, which is part of the Administration on Aging.” The number for the Eldercare Locator is (800) 677-1116.

If the suspected abuse is occurring in a nursing home, another resource is the state’s long-term-care ombudsman. That office can be reached at (866) 485-9393.

These offices, says Stephens, investigate suspected cases of abuse and neglect and can arrange for help for the victims.

Stephens says there are steps people can take to lessen their chance of falling prey to an abuser.

“People need to take care of their health. When they’re feeling well they have more confidence in their ability to run their own lives and are less likely to allow someone else to take control,” she says.

Staying active also helps.

“Being out and about or volunteering or visiting friends and family frequently means more people are going to notice if something appears off,” Stephens says.

The community as a whole has a responsibility as well.

“We should all be aware of what’s happening with our loved ones and other older adults we come in contact with and not be afraid to speak up,” she says. “Ask questions, and don’t hesitate to report suspected cases of abuse.” 

SOURCE:    Press and Guide
___________________________________________

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources

Japan Missing 230,000 Centenarians

By Melissa Bell  

September 10, 2010

A month-long audit of Japanese family registers has turned up a macabre fact: 230,000 elderly people are missing.

The country has touted its citizens' longevity, but it is now reeling from the discovery that thousands of its registered citizens over 100 years of age may no longer be living.

The nationwide search started when officials went to wish their oldest male citizen a happy 111th birthday. They found a 30-year-old mummy instead. The family had continued to collect Sogen Kato's pension after his death, which likely occurred in 1978.

Japan initially released figures that listed the population of people over 100 at around 40,300, but the audit turned up 230,000 missing centenarians on the public registry. Many of the missing would be at least 150 years old, and some may have died as long ago as World War II.

Alexandra Harney at Slate thinks American adults who are still single need to take a lesson from the macabre turn of events in Japan: stop mooching off mom and dad and start having kids of your own. "There will be fewer workers to support more retirees, a shrinking workforce, and falling demand for Japanese companies' products and services."

SOURCE:    The Washington Post Blog
_______________________________________

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources

Elder Abuse Task Force Holding Workshop on Campus (USA)

Elder Abuse Task Force holding workshop on campus
09-10-10

The Elder Abuse Task Force of Luzerne and Wyoming Counties, in conjunction with the Ethics Institute of Northeastern Pennsylvania at Misericordia University, is sponsoring the program, “Elder Abuse Issues for Health Care Professionals,’’ on Oct. 14 from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. in the Catherine Evans McGowan Room of the Mary Kintz Bevevino Library at Misericordia University.

Guest speakers for the program include: Ronald W. Costen, Ph.D., J.D., professor of sociology, Temple University College of Health Professions and Social Work, who is also the director of Temple University’s Institute on Protective Services. Nicholas D. Giordano, M.S., M.D., C.M.D., director of medical education and chairman of the End of Life/Palliative Care Committee. He is also president of the Luzerne County Medical Society and president of the Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Task Force for Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Rebecca May-Cole is the executive director of the Pennsylvania Behavioral Health and Aging. Charles Zola, Ph.D., assistant professor of philosophy and ethics at Mount Saint Mary College, and co-chair of the Elder Abuse Task Force of Luzerne and Wyoming Counties.

To register for the program, please call the Luzerne-Wyoming Counties Area Agency on Aging at (570) 822-1158 (ext. 2317) or e-mail jmcanally@aging.luzerne-wyoming.org. The program is eligible for continuing education credits for social work and contact hours for nurses. There is a fee for the program.

The Elder Abuse Task Force of Luzerne and Wyoming Counties was formed in 2008 under the leadership of state representatives Phyllis Mundy and Karen Boback. It is dedicated to reducing the number of elderly victims through prevention, education, identification and prosecution of elder abuse. It is co-chaired by the Luzerne-Wyoming Counties Area Agency on Aging and the Ethics Institute of NEPA at Misericordia University.

The task force works collaboratively with the Institute on Protective Services at Temple University and local community leaders to design programs that raise awareness of elder abuse. Since its inception, the task force has sponsored informational workshops on elder care abuse and elder sexual assault for health care professionals and law enforcement officials.

For more information on the task force and the fall workshop, please log on to www.elderabusetaskforce.org, or call the Luzerne-Wyoming Counties Area Agency at (570) 822-1158 or the Ethics Institute of NEPA at Misericordia University at (570) 674-6201.

The Ethics Institute of NEPA at Misericordia University was established in 1987 by Sister Siena Finley, RSM, and a group of community professionals and leaders from the Wyoming Valley who wished to foster more dialogue on ethical issues affecting the region. It is an institute directed by regional leaders and educators who are committed to the discussion of ethical issues both theoretical and practical. The institute encourages responsible ethical action through informed rational deliberation and it facilitates the process in the academic community as well as in the community at large through special workshops and forums.

Ethics Institute of NEPA at Misericordia University board members are Howard Grossman, executive director, Jewish Family Service; Kim Koehl, Leadership Wilkes-Barre; Kristine Pruett, director of operations, graduate education, Wilkes University; Rosemary Sigmond, liaison, Board of Trustees, Misericordia University; Robert Yanoshak, M.D., Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center; attorney Joseph Cosgrove, Margarita Rose, Ph.D., professor of economics, King’s College; Gary Mrozinski, dean of business and technologies, Luzerne County Community College; Sally McGuire, director, Continuing Education at Penn State Hazleton, Sister Bernadette Duross, RSM, executive director of the Ethics Institute; and Charles Zola, Ph.D., Mount Saint Mary College, assistant professor of philosophy.

For more information about the Ethics Institute, please contact Sister Bernadette at (570) 674-1449 or log on to www.misericordia.edu/ethics. For more information about Misericordia University, please log on to www.misericordia.edu or call (570) 674-6400.

SOURCE:     MISERICORDIA.EDU
_________________________________________

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources

Free Legal Help to Protect Seniors (BC. CANADA)

September 10, 2010

Older adults who are concerned about fraud, scams, and financial abuse now have a place to turn for help.

The BC Centre for Elder Advocacy and Support (BC CEAS) Elder Law Clinic is excited to announce the Legal Wellness Check-Up Program, a new service that provides older adults with a free legal consultation and an ounce of prevention in protecting their financial assets and legal rights.

The new service is designed to help people avoid a number of common forms of financial elder abuse, a rapidly growing problem; studies show that one in 12 older adults in B.C. will experience some form of financial abuse.

Clients receive a one-on-one legal consultation with a lawyer from the Elder Law Clinic that will help them protect themselves as well as give them a good sense of their current legal health. Topics covered include avoiding financial abuse, fraud and scams, powers of attorney, representation agreements and wills. Appointments can last up to one hour and are always free and confidential.

“This new service allows us to help older adults take stock of their legal health as well as be pro-active in avoiding financial abuse. A short 60-minute consultation can help avoid serious problems down the road,” says BC CEAS Executive Director Joan Braun.

The BC Centre for Elder Advocacy and Support provides a mix of social and legal services to older adults over the age of 55 from across B.C. The BC CEAS Elder Law Clinic, the first of its kind in western Canada, provides free legal services to clients that have a low income or face other barriers to accessing a legal help. Our wide range of services includes everything from providing legal information to full representation. The Legal Wellness Check-Ups are available to anyone over the age of 55.

Older adults interested in receiving a Legal Wellness Check-Up contact Jaime Green by phone at 604-688-1927 or by email at legalcheckup@bcceas.ca to book an appointment. Consultations are available on a first-come, first-served basis and are located at the BC CEAS Elder Law Clinic offices in the 411 Seniors’ Centre in downtown Vancouver.

SOURCE:    The BC Local News
_________________________________________

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources

Life Savings Stolen; Grand-daughter Convicted (KY. USA)

 Sep 10, 2010 

(WDRB-TV Fox 41) 


A local grandmother's life savings are wiped out, and authorities say the person behind the crime was the victim's own relative. 

79-year-old Juanita Stone was living at Summerfield Nursing Home in Shively.  Detectives say her granddaughter Casey Jarvis stole $150,000 from her.  It's a type of crime victims are often reluctant to report because they don't want to turn in their loved one. 

"This is even worse than a burglar coming to your home that you don't know, that's ripping you off, because there's no personal connection between the burglar and the victim," says Det. John Fogle of the Crimes Against Seniors Unit. 

Fogle says Jarvis squandered the money for almost a year.  It started when she placed Stone in the nursing home. 

In September of 2008, staff noticed she was behind on payments and was about to evict her when they called Adult Protective Services, which called LMPD's Crimes Against Seniors Unit.  "She had access to the checking account," says Det. Fogle. "She sold her grandparents' home when they was placed into a nursing home."

Fogle says Casey Jarvis and her husband Aaron used the money to pay off debts: "They just spent it living 'way beyond their means.  They have nothing to show for it at all.  The house that they lived in is in disrepair and shabby."

Jarvis was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison for defrauding her grandmother.  Fogle says Stone is still staying at Summerfield with the help of another granddaughter, but only has $40 a month after all her expenses are paid.  He said Stone was brave to come forward.  "There's a lot of elderly people are reluctant to press charges against a loved one.  And she felt like, that her granddaughter robbed her blind and betrayed her trust."

Det. Fogle says eight years is a very stiff sentence for Casey Jarvis.  As for her husband Aaron, he faces charges including theft and knowingly exploiting an adult.  He's out of jail pending sentencing.

SOURCE:   WDRB-TV Fox 41

_______________________________________

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources

Caregiver Convicted of Torture and Elder Abuse Bashed in Jail (LA. USA)

September 9, 2010

By Robert Faturechi

A caregiver convicted in April of torture and elder abuse at an upscale retirement home was brutally beaten by other inmates in County Jail on two occasions despite requesting to be removed from general population housing, according to a sworn statement he made to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Cesar Ulloa, 22, said his crimes made him a target: The Reseda man often laughed as he viciously attacked residents at Silverado Senior Living, several of whom were too dementia-ridden to call for help, prosecutors alleged.

In one case, a fellow caregiver said she saw Ulloa jump on a mute 78-year-old woman's chest, body-slamming her into a bed when she struggled.

According to Ulloa's statement released Thursday, he was in general population housing at Pitchess Detention Center in April when another inmate brought a copy of The Times, which previewed Ulloa's case and featured photo, into his dorm. Other inmates, according to his statement, beat him so badly he suffered a broken eye socket and brain damage.

When his verdict was read that month, the boyish former caregiver was nursing a black eye, and said he'd been attacked.

According to his statement, he asked to be held in protective custody after he recovered, but was mocked. His request was denied.

"The other inmates [at Twin Towers Correctional Facility] ... knew about my case and beat me up the same day," his ACLU statement reads. "I was knocked unconscious and woke up the next morning in a pool of my blood."

High-profile inmates and inmates charged with taboo crimes like child molestation are usually separated from the general population in county jails. A Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman could not immediately verify Ulloa's statement.

The details were revealed in a report released by the ACLU on Thursday morning blasting the conditions at county jails, particularly Men's Central.

"One of their paramount duties is to take all reasonable steps to keep people in their custody safe, no matter what they think of them," said ACLU attorney Peter Eliasberg. "To decline a request like [Ulloa's] is shocking, especially since he had once been beaten up."

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore could not comment on Ulloa specifically, but said inmate safety is a primary concern for jail deputies.

"There are several layers of oversight," Whitmore said. "You just cannot get away with the rampant violence the ACLU claims."

Ulloa is currently serving a life sentence. His abuses were particularly shocking because the Calabasas facilities where he was a low-level employee are about as close to a four-star hotel as retirement homes get, with relatives shelling out upward of $70,000 a year to house their loved ones. One employee said she saw Ulloa leap off a dresser and land with both knees on an elderly man's abdomen. He was also accused of using one wheelchair-using resident's arm to hit another resident suffering from dementia, encouraging the two to fight.

SOURCE:    L A Times Blog
_________________________________________

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources

Retirement Home Security Guard Busted For Stealing form Sick Seniors (FLA. USA)

By: Angela Sachitano

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla –

Rebecca Pringle visits her mother almost every day at the Ocean Palms Retirement Community in Stuart.

She says she knows security guard Raymond Loprinzi and that he has always gone out of his way to make the residents feel safe.

"I liked him but those are the ones that are sneaky ones," Pringle said.

Police say Loprinzi used his master key to break into the rooms of sick senior citizens while they were away at the hospital. They say he stole wedding rings, heirlooms and other valuables.

Police believe Loprinzi's behavior would have continued had it not been for a pawn shop identification system that led them right to the nighttime security guard.

"Law enforcement has access to an intelligence data base where officers can go and describe items they are looking for," said Marty Jacobson with the Stuart Police Department.

Unfortunately by the time cops made their way to the pawn shops, almost all of the stolen jewelry had been sold off and the gold melted down.

We did some digging on Loprinzi and found out his criminal record is clean however did file for bankruptcy two years ago.

Aging advocate Mary Craig says the number of crimes against seniors has skyrocketed on the Treasure Coast during these economic times.

"Seniors are vulnerable," Craig said.  "They trust the people that help them."

Cops agree and recommend seniors write down serial numbers and take pictures of all valuable items and to keep those valuables locked in a safe .Much of the jewelry stolen at Ocean Palms was simply laying in jewelry boxes.

 "You go somewhere to live out golden years," Jacobson said.  "Where there is gold, you will find swindlers and thieves."

Copyright (c) 2010 The E. W . Scripps Company and Angie's List

SOURCE:      WPTV
________________________________________

Click for Updates, More Cases and Resources
Search Right Col/Labels for More Posts/Resources