Recognizing elder abuse
By Alandra Johnson / The Bulletin
July 24. 2009
After her son moves in, an older woman has lost a lot of weight, her hygiene has gone downhill and she is missing payments on her bills.
A younger female has started accompanying an older man every time he goes to the bank, and instead of depositing his retirement checks, he asks for the money in cash.
An elderly woman with dementia cowers whenever her caregiver is near and has stopped talking to her neighbors.
These could all be signs of elder abuse, which comes in many forms, the most common of which are financial exploitation and neglect.
Adult Protective Services, which covers the tri-county area, receives 50-70 calls a month from individuals wishing to report potential elder abuse. But national and local experts working in the field believe the problem to be much greater than the reports convey. The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates just one in five cases of elder abuse gets reported and between 1 million and 2 million Americans 65 or older have been mistreated, exploited or abused.
Part of the problem is that few people know what elder abuse is; fewer still know how to report it.
Financial exploitation
Financial abuse is an area of elder abuse that seems to be on the rise. And many in the field expect, with the downturn in the economy, it will only grow worse.
Spotting it
Self-neglect and neglect can be associated with malnutrition, dehydration, an inability to dress oneself, or living in unsafe or unsanitary environment. Other things to watch for include the smell of urine or the person walking outside in bare feet during the winter.
Physical abuse is associated with bruises and broken bones. Yelling and making threats may be a sign of emotional abuse. Also, Merriman-Nai says a person can see the results of emotional abuse: an older person will become withdrawn.
Financial abuse may be characterized by a person complaining about not having enough money for medication, no longer seeming to have what they need, unexplained large withdrawals of money, the addition of names to bank accounts, or more. The study from MetLife added these warning signs of abuse: a senior showing fear or submissiveness to the caregiver, being isolated from family and friends, making new “best friends,” uncharacteristic missed payments or appointments, and missing belongings.
Abridged
SOURCE: Bend Bulletin - Bend,OR,USA
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