The number of elderly abuse reports in fiscal 2009 topped 15,000, setting a new high, a government survey has revealed.
The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare has compiled reports of elder abuse from the municipal and prefectural governments across the country based on the Act on Prevention of Elderly Abuse, which went into effect in 2006 and obliges anyone who spots such abuse to report it to their local government.
According to the survey results, the number of abuse cases against those aged 65 or older was confirmed to be 15,691 in fiscal 2009, up 732 (4.9 percent) from the previous fiscal year and the worst ever since statistics started being collected in fiscal 2006. Elder abuse reports have been increasing every year, growing about 1.24 times in the four years.
Most of the victims were reportedly abused by their families and relatives, and 45.7 percent of them were dementia sufferers needing care. The number of elder abuse-related deaths also hit a record high of 32, tying that reported in fiscal 2006.
According to the survey, 77.3 percent of those abused by their families and relatives were women, with those in their 80s accounting for 42.2 percent and those certified by their municipal government as being in need of nursing care reaching 68.6 percent. In addition, "sons" made up 41 percent of the abusers, followed by "husbands" (17.7 percent) and "daughters" (15.2 percent).
"I assume this is linked to the fact that many children who are looking after their aging parents don't have a job or they have to quit their job to care for their parents," one official of the ministry suggested.
Apart from the victims' families and relatives, nursing home employees were also reported as abusers in 76 cases, up 8.6 percent from the previous fiscal year and the largest ever figure, according to the survey.
By type of abuse, 63.5 percent was physical abuse, followed by verbal and other psychological abuse (38.2 percent), financial abuse (26.1 percent, including property embezzlement) and nursing negligence (25.5 percent).
Moreover, the 32 deaths were comprised of 17 cases of murder, six cases of nursing negligence causing death and five cases of assault. According to the ministry, municipal governments had previously received reports or consultations regarding abuse in "around half" of the 32 cases.
Meanwhile, the abuse reports at nursing homes included a case in which a group home was ordered by the local government in fiscal 2009 to improve its nursing care after the home was discovered keeping its elderly residents in restraints. The municipal government had demanded the home make similar improvement in the previous fiscal year due to negligent care.
SOURCE: MDN.MAINICHI.JP
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