Report All Cases of Elder Abuse (Louisiana USA)

Report all cases of elder abuse

FEBRUARY 7, 2009

While Louisiana has some of the best laws in the country for protecting the elderly, an estimated 30,000 cases of elderly abuse go unreported each year. Jay Bulot, executive director of the Governor's Office of Elderly Affairs, says it is because people are not aware of laws that cover offenses such as financial exploitation and physical abuse.

It is important that agencies share information on elderly abuse on a regular basis with their communities and the victims who come to them for help.

There are few acts more heinous than abuse of the elderly - and probably no other age group is more vulnerable.

According to Bulot, predatory lenders target the elderly because they are on fixed incomes and looking for ways to save money. Lisha Landry, a specialist in the public-protection division of the state Attorney General's Office, says the elderly are often susceptible to telemarketing scams because they have expendable income, are more polite to callers and are home more often during the day.

If you or someone you know is a victim of abuse, report it to member agencies of the task force. The state Attorney General's Office can be reached at 800-351-4889. You can call the nonprofit organization Elder Abuse nationwide and toll-free at 800-677-1116. Elder Abuse helps older adults and their caregivers find local services for seniors.

Take advantage of the resources available if you or an elderly loved one is subjected to abuse.

Abridged

SOURCE:    The Daily Advertiser - LA,USA 

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Laws Should Help Stop Elder Abuse, Not Deter Reporting

By Laura Wright

02/05/09

 As a gerontologist/social worker, it was interesting to see the two-sided spectrum of the aging experiences recently featured in The News. The first article, “Attempted murder charged in case of elder abuse,” reported that a 49-year-old woman attempted to smother an elderly family member who was living in an assisted living center. The second was the very moving My View, “Mom’s beautiful smile is a gift to be treasured.” I deeply related to it as my mother is currently under Hospice care, and she too has a beautiful smile, under any circumstances.

The articles bring to mind some issues. Some laws that are meant to protect elders inadvertently further endanger them when warning signs are ignored due to sanctions against nursing homes and other care facilities. Though meant to give strong incentive to protect patients, they often lead to a lot of underreporting, as well as offer no legal means of limiting family members who are under suspicion, even if there is direct proof.

Both family members and staff who have concerns are left with little recourse for reporting due to shock, fear of disbelief, concern for one’s job and fear of retribution. Imagine the pain and guilt that loving family members and even staff experience when they have no idea where to turn if they have knowledge or suspicion of abuse. Lawmakers need to broaden the laws that help to stop abuse, not to stop reporting. 

Laura Wright

Amherst

SOURCE:    The Buffalo News

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Man Plea Entered in Elder Abuse Case (MN. USA)

A Princeton man must serve 20 days in jail for allegedly causing injury to an elderly Ahlzheimer’s patient at an assisted living facility in Isanti County in 2007.

When Michael Stuart Sende, 42, entered an Alford plea last November, he wasn’t admitting guilt but rather recognizing that there was a preponderance of evidence that could result in a conviction.

The charge, Criminal Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult by a Caregiver, a gross misdemeanor, arose after the elderly man was taken to the Princeton hospital for a medical problem and found to have suspicious injuries.

Following an investigation by the state and the county, Sende, a personal care worker, was charged with injuring the man while assisting him to take a shower.

As part of the sentence imposed Jan. 22 by Judge Douglas Meslow, Sende was also fined $3,000, with $2,600 stayed, and placed on two years probation.

SOURCE:      Princeton Union Eagle

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Service Sees Increase in Elder Abuse (New Zealand)

BY KATARINA FILIPE

South Canterbury

06 February 2009

SUSPECTED abuse and neglect of the elderly in South Canterbury has risen a trend that has been reported around the rest of New Zealand.

Not all inquiries resulted in registered cases if the inquirer wanted to remain anonymous or felt that information given to them was sufficient for them to follow up themselves, elder protection co-ordinator Geeta Muralidharan said.

"Now, people know there is a service in the community to help them. Awareness is building that there is a free, confidential and professional service available."

The service said 75 per cent of elderly abuse came from family members.

Mrs Muralidharan said financial abuse occurred more often, but cases were now more complex because of a mixture of financial, verbal and emotional abuse and ageist attitudes and disrespect to the elderly.

Social agency Age Concern has also received a jump in notifications nationwide. It has prompted calls for tougher sanctions against family members and caregivers who physically, financially or emotionally abuse the elderly.

Abridged

SOURCE:     Stuff.co NZ

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Elder Scams (Ottawa, Canada)

My dearest one, you've been scammed

By JON WILLING, SUN MEDIA

January 27, 2009

Canada's anti-fraud call centre identified fewer victims of West African letter scams in 2008, but those victims were still hustled for $3.2 million.

BLATANT ATTEMPT

To a savvy Internet user, the West African letter scam is a blatant attempt by a crook, using an alias, to solicit money under the guise of a lottery win, inheritance or business transaction -- but people unfamiliar with e-mail spam continue to take the bait.

In 2007, Canadian victims of the scam lost $5.4 million, and in 2006, 195 Canadians lost $3 million.

Robertson said police are receiving more help from international authorities in the regions where the scams are believed to be originating.

Identity theft and mass marketing frauds once again turned thousands of people into victims in 2008.

Mass marketing fraud garnered nearly $50 million from victims in the U.S. and Canada. Canadians reported losing $9.5 million to identity theft in 2008.

With the number of frauds using the Internet increasing, Robertson said "people will have to be a little bit smarter" online.

Fraud investigators saw the progression of another scam in 2008 that preyed on elderly people.

Nicknamed the "emergency scam" or "grandparent scam," the fraud involves crooks phoning elderly people under the guise of one of their grandchildren. The crook persuades grandparent to send money but not tell other relatives.

Abridged

SOURCE:    The Ottawa Sun

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Helpline to Stamp Out Abuse of the Elderly (Wales)

 by Kelly Fenna, Daily Post

Feb 5 2009

THOUSANDS of elderly care home residents across Wales could be protected from the effects of abuse thanks to a new helpline.

 

Staffed by Action on Elder Abuse and supported by Southern Cross Healthcare, ill-treatment can be reported without fear of repercussions.

All homes across the sector will be encouraged to display posters giving information about the initiative and every member of staff will be issued with a wallet sized card with details of the helpline.

Kamma Foulkes, chief operating officer at Southern Cross said: “We are determined to tackle abuse by supporting this independent and robust system intended to protect residents, relatives and staff who wish to raise concerns safe in the knowledge they will be treated seriously and without prejudice.”

The helpline number is 0808 801 0310.

SOURCE:   Daily Post UK

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Cases Highlight Carer's Vital Role (UK)

February 05, 2009

MANY Echo readers will be sickened to learn that a frail pensioner who is disabled, has to be turned over in bed every two hours and cannot feed herself, no longer qualifies for nursing support.

The fact that she has been receiving financial assistance for two years and that her condition has deteriorated seem an irrelevance to health chiefs who, coincidentally, are wrestling with a huge overspend.

The onus for providing 98-year-old Muriel Prescott's care will now fall to her son, placing an impossible financial burden upon him, or social services, resulting in less cash for even more needy individuals.

The families of those affected have described the situation as a scandal and it's difficult to disagree with them.

However, what these terrible cases also highlight is the vital role carers play in our society and the actual value the Government places upon them.

Just look at the facts: Nursing homes are typically paid between £500-£750 per person a week, yet carers receive an allowance of just £50.55.

That's why the Echo is campaigning for a better deal for dedicated people like Bronwyn Nott who save the tax payer millions of pounds each year.

 We'll be digging deep into this issue over the next few days and we'll be making Health Secretary Alan Johnson aware of what the people whose job it is to spend our cash wisely are up to.

SOURCE:  ThisIs Exeter UK

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The Hidden Dangers of Elder Abuse (Canada)

Feb. 04

ctvottawa.ca

Elder abuse - physical, emotional, and even financial - is an emerging crime that remains veiled in secrecy. Hidden cameras have captured assaults against senior citizens in Canadian and American nursing homes

But there's a shocking reality: most cases of elder abuse occur in their own homes, and the perpetrators are usually relatives.

Ottawa police have noticed an increase in elder abuse, said Det. Christina Wolf, one of two investigators assigned to the beat.

"We see situations where a 'caregiver' enters a person's life with this understanding that they will do just that, provide care and the basic essential needs to the senior," Wolf said.

"They're in it for the money, and over the course of time the money takes priority, and the senior gets neglected. Sometimes to the point where they are severely emaciated and dehydrated and left alone."

The Ottawa police elder abuse section investigated 468 cases from its 2005 inception until early 2008. Thirty-three of the cases involved home support workers, 81 occurred at private institutions, 98 were at long term care facilities, and 256 cases involved alleged abuse by family members.

In total, 57 people were arrested and 623 charges were laid. Greed was the common factor in most cases, according to police, whether it's Grandma's nest egg, Mom's savings, or a potential inheritance.

"Whatever way one wants to rationalize it, it's criminal," Wolf said.

The Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse has released a series of public service announcements to raise awareness and encourage people to report wrongdoing.

"I know that with the aging population and in my work I'm seeing it increase on a monthly basis," said Manon Thompson on the ONPEA.

"If there is financial abuse, there is most likely psychological and physical abuse. They kind of go hand in hand."

SOURCE:    Ottawa CTV

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Similar situation exists in many other countries. If we don't read about it of a particular country; it is because the media and the local government prefer to keep quiet as EA is often considered as a "sensitive and expensive" issue to tackle.  

We only read or hear about horrible cases in nursing homes, or cases that involve a great sum of money.

Inspite of  political rhetorics many countries are not actively working to help victims and to promote awareness and prevention measures.  

We have a lot more work to do!

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Convicted Elder Abuser Captured By Authorities (PA. USA)

February 4, 2009 2

By CARL HESSLER JR.
For The Times Herald

COURTHOUSE — Authorities have caught up with an Upper Darby woman who twice didn’t show up in court to be sentenced for using a belt to beat an elderly Alzheimer’s patient while she worked at an Upper Merion assisted living facility.

“I’ll know where you are now,” Montgomery County President Judge Richard J. Hodgson told admitted elder abuser Henrietta Sprual on Tuesday as he revoked her bail and ordered her held in jail until her sentencing hearing can be scheduled a third time.

Sprual, 30, of Marshal Road, in handcuffs after being apprehended by authorities on a bench warrant earlier Tuesday, claimed to the judge that she didn’t receive the proper notice in the mail about two previously scheduled sentencing hearings.

Sprual claimed one notice mistakenly informed her to go to Delaware County Court for her sentencing.

Sprual, who had been free on bail pending sentencing, faces a possible maximum sentence of three to seven years in prison on the charges.

Richman, who leads the district attorney’s Elder Abuse Prosecution Unit, alleged Sprual violated her duty of care to the victim and she violated the trust of all of his loved ones who relied on her to take care of him.

The bruises on the man’s body were so clear one could see the imprint of the belt buckle, prosecutors alleged.

By pleading guilty to the charges, Sprual admitted that she intentionally or recklessly caused bodily injury to the patient.

Abridged

SOURCE:   The Times Herald 

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Astor Case Sheds Light on Hidden Problem (NY USA)

Elder abuse has its trial

Advocates for elderly say Astor case sheds light on hidden problem

by amy zimmer / metro new york

FEB 4, 2009

 Advocates for the elderly are closely watching the court case over philanthropist Brooke Astor’s estate set to open tomorrow

 Astor’s son Anthony Marshall and his lawyer, Francis Morrissey, begin trial for allegedly trying to plunder her $200 million estate while she suffered from dementia. Expected to expose rifts within the iconic New York family, others hope the case will shed light on the little-known problem of elder abuse.

 

The case provides “an opportunity to say who is the face of the elder abuse,” noted Joy Solomon, director of the Weinberg Center, an elder abuse shelter in the Bronx. “Often it’s not someone walking into a police station with a black eye. Sometimes it’s after the bruise is gone. Sometimes it’s financial abuse.”

 

Astor grew increasingly paranoid of men in suits as pressure mounted to sign over her wealth, staff recorded in journals, the New York Post reported. She was 105 when she died in 2007.

The U.S. Senate’s Special Committee on Aging estimates 5 million seniors may be victimized a year.

 

Solomon recently saw a son who stole his mother’s prosthetic leg and several cases of family and caretakers stealing dentures.

“Older women are ashamed to go out without their teeth,” she said. “It’s about exerting control over someone’s life.”

SOURCE:   NY Metro

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