WEAAD to Raise Issues and Lowers Incidence Rate (CO. USA)

Victim advocates hope upcoming Elder Abuse Awareness Day raises issues and lowers incidence rate

By Pam Mellskog 
© 2009 Longmont Times-Call

6/11/2009

Jackie List-Warrilow looks at bruises with a suspicious eye.

As outreach program director at Longmont’s Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley, she knows that perpetrators sometimes blame signs of elder abuse on the victim’s age-related vulnerabilities such as physical frailty, dementia and vision and hearing impairments.

Elders do bruise more easily. A watchband adjusted too tightly can leave a mark.

“But (perpetrators) may use the aging process to explain away the signs of abuse that people might be noticing,” she said.

List-Warrilow and other victim advocates hope that Elder Abuse Awareness Day, an international designation that will be recognized Monday, raises awareness and helps reduce the incidence of elder abuse — be it domestic abuse, neglect or exploitation.

Research shows that elder abuse goes largely under-identified and under-reported. Only an estimated one in six cases gets addressed, according to the National Center on Elder Abuse.

To better address the problem in women and men, whose rate of abuse rises as they age, Boulder County and five other counties nationwide recently each won a three-year, $465,000 Elder Justice Project grant from the U.S. Justice Department.

Funds will pay for interagency elder abuse-related training and service coordination countywide — from the courts to police departments to social services and private agencies, Janet Kilby, Boulder County’s project coordinator, said.

Elder abuse requires a concerted effort given the associated delicate dynamics, she said.

Studies show most perpetrators are not strangers. They are trusted caregivers or family members, which makes it difficult for elder abuse victims to consider themselves victims and get help.

“Perhaps that older son who has moved in is doing the grocery shopping, driving her places and changing the light bulbs. But he is also physically intimidating her and financially exploiting her, and how is she going to sort that out?” Kilby said.

Abridged

SOURCE:    Longmont Daily Times-Call - Longmont,CO,USA

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