Community Outrage: Stop the 'Elder Abuse' (NEW ZEALAND)

Community outrage

Stop the 'elder abuse'

06/12/2010

Central District Times

Rural Women New Zealand members will be joining a further protest in Taihape this afternoon against the Whanganui District Health Board's decision to do away with the town's 20-bed rest home and four inpatient beds, effectively closing the hospital.

The decision means 20 elderly residents are faced with a move to rest homes more than 100 kilometres away in Whanganui or Palmerston North – a three-hour round trip by road.

"This is elder abuse," saidRural Women New Zealand health spokeswoman Kerry Maw. "To move a dementia client out of familiar surroundings to somewhere over 100 km away, without people coming to visit them means they are going to be completely lost.

"These are frail, elderly people and we are appalled at the complete lack of compassion that is being shown in this decision."

Rural Women New Zealand has asked Health Minister Tony Ryall how the closure of the rest home can be justified when New Zealand is a signatory to the OECD Ageing in Place Strategy which states that where elderly people can no longer continue to live in their own homes "they should be enabled to live in a sheltered and supportive environment which is as close to their community as possible, in both the social and geographical sense".

Rural Women New Zealand believes a more holistic view of the DHB's funding difficulties must be taken.

People in Taihape and surrounding rural areas currently visit their relatives in the rest home on a daily basis. In future, visits will be rare, costly and time consuming.

"The impacts on the community have not been taken into account, nor the threats to the remaining health services in Taihape. The rest home closure could be the thin end of the wedge," said Mrs Maw.

This also brings in to question the availability of a weekend duty doctor, as there will not be any nursing staff to fall back on at the rest home and hospital.

Rural Women New Zealand has called on the Whanganui DHB to urgently re-think its decision to close the rest home and inpatient beds, and instead give the people of Taihape something to celebrate this Christmas.

SOURCE:    Stuff.Co.NZ


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Elderly Over Medicating – Is it Abuse?

Elderly Over Medicating – Is it Abuse?

This is one of the forms of abuse that can go on in nursing homes and assisted living centers. There are many types of abuse and this is one of the most difficult to discover and debilitating to the senior citizen being over medicated. This can occur due to adverse affects from medications that do not interact well together, or because of too many drugs prescribed for the senior.

Nursing homes and assisted living centers across the country use medications for their elderly residents, this includes Los Angeles, California. The outcome is more than 38 million cases of elderly Americans that suffer from drug complications each year. When over medication occurs in the nursing home setting it changes the senior’s mental and physical health and is a type of nursing home abuse.

Giving the elderly person too much medication or too many drugs it can have consequences that result in severe personal injury or even wrongful death. The medical professionals at nursing homes in cities like Coto de Casa, San Clemente and Laguna Woods, are responsible for giving your loved one the proper medication.

Choosing the right personal injury attorney in places like Brea and Yorba Linda, is important; this is an attorney that uses experts to review the medical history of your family member and will be able to find out if they have been or still are being over medicated. This can allow the nursing home or assisted living center senior to begin recovering from this type of nursing home abuse they were subjected to.

One of the nursing home abuses in over medicating can restrain the elderly and prevent them from having the type of life they normally would be able. The doctors, nursing staff and the assisted can be held responsible for their actions and the injuries they have cause, which can help the over medicated victim recover.

Over medicating the elderly family member is dangerous; the symptoms from these combined drugs can lead the doctor to prescribe other medications or more medications when under the belief these are symptoms from medical conditions. There are some symptoms that are common in the over medicated senior and that can mimic other conditions:

• Confusion

• Memory loss

• Fatigue

• Pain

• Abdominal pain

• Swelling

There are injuries that can occur from the senior being over medicated or taking too many prescriptions, this can make walking or standing, and eating almost impossible, along with other types of daily activities. There is also the danger of falling and other injuries when the prescriptions interfere with the person’s balance.

SOURCE:    Elder Law - Phoenix Blog
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Abuse of Elderly Prompts Warning (USA)

December 3, 2010
By Chelsea Gorrow
The Daily Astorian

State officials fear that Oregon is following a national trend that shows an increase in the number of cases of elderly abuse.

A national trend has state officials concerned that elder abuse cases in Oregon are on the riseNational studies estimate 3 to 5 million seniors, aged 65 and older, have experienced abuse – but only 1 in 5 cases are reported. Now, with Christmas nearing, local Adult Protection Services agents are asking families to keep an eye out and to report any signs of abuse before it is too late.

“Abuse doesn’t have to be physical. My most common calls come in for self-neglect,” said Steve Hawks with Adult Protective Services, based in Warrenton.  

“We deal with self-neglect, financial exploitation, physical abuse, verbal and emotional abuse, and sexual abuse. With the holidays, a lot of financial exploitation occurs and a lot of scams go around. Family members are unfortunately one of the greatest perpetrators of financial exploitation.”

To report a case of elder abuse, call (800) 846-9165. Hawks says callers can ask to remain anonymous


Abridged
SOURCE:     The Daily Astorian


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Man Gets 35-to-Life for Sex Assault on Woman 92 (USA)

Dec. 03, 2010

By Eddie Jimenez / The Fresno Bee

A 60-year-old Fresno man was sentenced Friday to 35 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting a 92-year-old woman more than a decade ago.

John B. Green, who declined to attend his trial, was convicted by a jury in October of felony charges of assault, sexual battery and elder abuse.

Green was in court Friday to hear his sentence imposed by Fresno County Superior Court Judge Kent Hamlin.

Green maintained his innocence while addressing the judge, saying he didn't have adequate legal counsel.

Green said his attorney Charles Magill did not present key evidence or cross-examine some witnesses.

Abridged
SOURCE:   The Fresno Bee
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Northland Woman Can't Believe Charges of Elder Abuse (USA)

Northland Woman Can't Believe Charges of Elder Abuse

By Mary Pulley, edited by Jason Vaughn

December 3, 2010

A Gladstone woman who faces forgery charges and whose husband faces elder abuse charges says that she and her husband did nothing wrong in the death of an elderly metro woman.

Frankie O'Neal and her husband, Todd O'Neal, were indicted by a grand jury after the death of Todd O'Neal's 80-year-old grandmother, Evelyn O'Neal, who suffered from Alzheimer's Disease.

Abridged

SOURCE:      FOX4KC

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Keeping Seniors Safe (CANADA)

Keeping seniors safe

Local News

By MELISSA DI COSTANZO

STANDARD-FREEHOLDER.COM

City police have launched a new initiative to keep seniors safe by informing them about issues that could affect them.

The Cornwall Community Police Service will distribute information on phone scams, elder abuse and any other criminal matters which could affect the seniors in Cornwall.

"Some seniors don't get newspapers and don't watch the local news. They're not aware," said Const. Brenda MacIntosh, elder abuse prevention officer. "Some of them are not well informed as to the current trends and issues. Sometimes, they're the most vulnerable. It's tough to stay current with all the issues that surround fraud and abuse."

The service is acting in partnership with Le Centre CharlesÉmile-Claude on this pilot project.

"We want to see how it's going to work," said MacIntosh. "If the project takes off, and I'm very hopeful that it will, we'll have different groups to send information off to."

MacIntosh said she is confident this project is going to work.

And here's how it works: the program will be delivered via email to the center's director, who will be responsible for forwarding the information through email to the center's membership. The director of the centre may also provide hard copies of the information to their membership for those who do not have access to the Internet and will encourage further distribution to seniors.

MacIntosh said she wants to challenge seniors to pass on the received information to those who are shut-in.

"They are the most vulnerable," she said. "There's a friendly voice at the other end of the phone and before you know it, there goes your life savings."

The purpose of this partnership is to ensure seniors are made aware of issues relating to them and to keep seniors, who many not have access to centers such as Le Centre CharlesÉmileClaude or other mediums, in the loop.

"The more information we provide, the better they're going to be when making decisions about money and power of attorney," said MacIntosh.

Upon request, crime reduction/ community partnership officers will make presentation to various senior groups.

Once the project has been fully developed, the service plans on inviting other seniors' groups to participate.
MacIntosh said the length of the pilot program hasn't been determined.
"A couple of months; we'll see how it goes," she said. "We're hoping to get other agencies that work with seniors (involved). I want to get as many agencies and groups involved so we can get this information out and actively talk about this."

SOURCE:   The Standard Freeholder

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Reporting Elder Abuse (USA)

Reporting elder abuse

By John Durso

December  01, 2010

Q: If a staff member suspects abuse of a resident—whether by another resident, employee, or visitor—how must it be reported?

A: The recent enactment of the Elder Justice Act (EJA) in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has clarified certain requirements for reporting elder abuse. The EJA focuses on protecting individuals age 60 or over who receive long-term care services in federally funded facilities.  

The EJA requires long-term care facilities to self-report elder abuse if they received at least $10,000 in federal funds the preceding year. Any individual who is an owner, operator, employee, manager, agent or contractor of such a facility (each a “Covered Individual”) must report any reasonable suspicion of a crime against a resident to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and one or more local law enforcement entities, such as the local police department.

These covered individuals must report all suspected abuse in the facility, including abuse by staff members, other residents and visitors. If the alleged abuse results in serious bodily injury, the covered individual must report the suspicion immediately; all other alleged abuse must be reported no more than 24 hours later. Failure to report will result in a $200,000 or $300,000 fine to the covered individual based on the resulting harm to the victim.  

Because the EJA applies only to elders living in long-term care facilities that receive federal funding, state laws supplement the act.

Most state agencies have 24-hour hotlines for abuse reporting, but persons suspecting elder abuse should call 911 immediately in emergency situations.

Please send your legal questions to John Durso at ltcnews@mcknights.com.

From the December 2010 Issue of McKnight's Long Term Care News

SOURCE:   McKnights.Com
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State Grant for DA's Office to Fund Elder Abuse Advocacy and Outreach Project (USA)

By Nick Wilson

The county District Attorney’s Office was awarded a new state grant that will continue to fund its Elder Abuse Advocacy and Outreach Project at $125,000 annually for the next five years.

The project has existed since 2000 and was created in response to crimes against seniors, who make up more than 14 percent of the county’s population.

The project provides specialized crisis and support services to seniors who are victims of crime as well as a variety of programs that focus on elder abuse awareness and prevention of senior crime.

Since 2000, the project has helped more than 3,000 senior crime victims and their families cope with physical, emotional and financial damages of crime.

In addition officials have conducted more than 250 community awareness programs for seniors and training sessions for services agencies, community groups and first responders.

SOURCE:     SanLuisObispo


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4 Teen Suspects In Norco Slaying In Court (USA)

4 Teen Suspects In Norco Slaying In Court

Crime Experts Offer Safety Tips For Seniors

November 30, 2010

Four suspects accused in connection with the killing of a 78-year-old Norco woman appeared before a St. Charles Parish judge on Tuesday.

Bond for 17-year-old Pauline Deese, charged with accessory to first-degree murder, was set at $100,000. She is accused of destroying evidence by burning clothing linking her 16-year-old brother to the Nov. 8 brutal slaying of Mary Nancy Arico.

Deese's brother and two other teens are also charged in connection with Arico's death. Their names were not released because they are juveniles.

Copyright 2010 by WDSU.com.

Abridged
SOURCE:     WDSU.COM
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Nursing Home Worker Charged With Sex Abuse (USA)

By WKBW Admin

November 29, 2010

30 year old Paul Scott of Buffalo pleaded not guilty Sunday to sexual abuse of a physically helpless defendant. 
Scott is free on 10-thousand dollars bond Monday. He is a nursing assistant at Hawthorn Health Multi-Care Center on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. Scott will have to face charges in a few days that he sexually abused a 77 year old woman in his care. 


Abridged
SOURCE:     WKBW
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