Elder Abuse May Be More Common Than People Think

BY LISA RAPAPORT

(reuters health)

Elder abuse may be more common than is recognized, particularly among adults with dementia or other cognitive impairments, a research review suggests.

In North and South America, elder abuse prevalence ranges from 10 percent of lucid older adults to almost half of those with dementia, the review of previous studies found. In Europe, prevalence ranges from about 2 percent in Ireland to about 61 percent in Croatia and in Asia, exposure to elder abuse ranges from 14 percent in India to 36 percent inChina.

“Elder abuse is a common, identifiable, fatal and costly condition that occurs across sociodemographic and socioeconomic strata around the world,” lead study author Dr. Xin Qi Dong, a researcher in aging at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said by email.

It can include psychological, physical or sexual mistreatment; neglect and financial exploitation, Dong and colleagues write in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

While cognitive impairment appears to be most strongly linked to a risk of being abused, the problem is also seen among elderly people with impaired physical function and those suffering psychological distress or social isolation.

Abuse significantly harms health and has been linked to psychological disorders as well as physical illnesses, the review found. Two studies in the analysis found an association between elder abuse and premature mortality, especially among blacks.

In addition, elder abuse is associated with increased use of health services, especially emergency department visits and hospitalizations as well as readmissions, the authors note.

Clinicians are well positioned to spot elder abuse and start a conversation with patients that can help them receive assistance they need to get out of an abusive situation, said Dr. Michael Bond, an emergency medicine researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

“Doctors or social workers need to ask the patient when they are alone, and if there is any suspicion at all a home visit should be arranged,” Bond, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

While patients can’t always prevent themselves from becoming victims of abuse, there are some steps they may be able to take to make it less likely, said Dr. Janice Du Mont, a psychologist at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto.

As they age, adults should plan ahead while they are still lucid and independent, Du Mont, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. People should have a living will and power of attorney designating what type of care they want and who can make medical or financial decisions for them if they later become unable to do so, she said.

In addition, people shouldn’t lend bank cards or PIN numbers to anyone, and should weigh any decisions to change living situations very carefully, particularly moving in with a friend or relative or having a caregiver move into the home. Maintaining contact with a support network of as many friends and family members as possible is also helpful.

“As the world faces an increasingly aging population, elder abuse is predicted to increase,” she said. “The prevention of elder abuse should be an important area of concern for policy makers, program developers and practitioners.”

(Source: bit.ly/1BEoOnc Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, online June 11, 2015.)

SOURCE:   REUTERS

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How to Stop Elder Abuse: Report Red Flags (Minnesota, USA)

Echo Press Editorial: How to stop elder abuse: Report red flags

July 22, 2015

It happens too often: An elderly person is financially preyed upon by a con artist, a relative or close friend.

But all the headlines that tell about such crimes should not make people numb to it. Instead, it should spark outrage and spur action and awareness. It starts with reporting any suspected financial abuse and exploitation of the elderly.

Rothman said that seniors have become a prime target for crooks because they control an estimated 70 percent of the nation’s wealth. Age-related factors such as illnesses and cognitive impairment can make many older adults especially vulnerable to financial crimes and scams.

The commerce department has stepped up its efforts to protect Minnesota seniors from financial fraud and abuse. But it can’t address this pressing problem on its own. It needs the public’s help in bringing cases of suspected elder abuse to light.

“While one of the best lines of defense is prevention through education, a continuing challenge is that elder financial abuse is a crime that often goes unreported,” said Rothman. “Greater public awareness is needed to identify these crimes early on and help victims before they lose their hard-earned life savings.”

Rothman highlighted some possible warning signs of financial abuse of older adults:

• Unusual financial transactions that are inconsistent with past behavior.

• Uncharacteristic attempts to wire large sums of money.

• Unusual inability to pay for routine services like utilities or insurance.

• Closing of CDs or financial accounts without regard to penalties or fees.

• Large or frequent financial withdrawals, including maximum cash withdrawals from ATMs.

• A sudden change in the management of the older adult’s finances.

Rothman said that when these red flags show up, it may be a sign that someone is being victimized and it should be reported.

Douglas County area residents can report suspected elder financial fraud to the Commerce Department at 1-800-657-3602.

Minnesotans can also report suspected elder abuse, such as physical maltreatment or neglect, to their county’s designated Common Entry Point. To find a county’s Common Entry Point, people can call the Senior LinkAge Line at 1-800-333-2433.

SOURCE:     The Echo Press
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MIDDLETOWN, DEL. SIBLINGS CHARGED WITH ELDER ABUSE

July 22, 2015

New Castle County police have charged siblings from Middletown, Delaware with elder abuse.

47-year-old Kelly Chytrenko and 44-year-old Davis Deibert were taken into custody on Wednesday morning.

Police were called to investigate an allegation of elder abuse at their home on Horseshoe Court in Middletown on Monday.

Police learned a 73-year-old victim was taken to Union Hospital in Elkton, Maryland late Sunday night.

Investigators say the victim had not seen a doctor in four years while under the care of Chytrenko and Deibert.

The say the man suffered bed sores, malnutrition and dehydration.

Chytrenko and Deibert were both charged with abuse of an infirmed adult.

They were arraigned and released on $1,000 unsecured bail and issued a no contact order.

SOURCE:     6ABC.COM
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Some Nursing Home Residents 'Left Without Shower for Month' (IRELAND)

21/07/2015

Some elderly people in a nursing home have been left for a month or more without a shower, inspectors have revealed.

The Hiqa inspection also found fire evacuation and personal evacuation plans were not in place and f ire safety equipment had not been installed.

It also highlighted a significant number of falls in the home, including that some residents had fallen repeatedly and were not adequately protected from further injury.

Records showed there were 110 falls in the home last year and 63 in the last six months, with one person falling seven times in four months and another falling six times in six months.

One of them fractured a hip and the other suffered a fractured vertebrae after falling out of bed.

A lack of suitable chairs had resulted in some men and women being bed-bound, Hiqa said.

Dormitory-style rooms were also being used for four to six people to sleep in at a time which inspectors said was affecting the privacy and dignity of residents.

Inadequate staff numbers were also raised with the operators while relatives of some of the people living in the home said they were generally happy with the care but concerned about the lack of nurses and carers.

"The inspectors found there was insufficient staffing to meet the needs of the residents and current staff were not deployed in a manner that met the needs of residents," the report said.

SOURCE:     The Belfast Telegraph

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Calgary Caregivers Convicted in Shocking Senior Abuse Case Caught on Video

July 21, 2015

The family of an elderly Calgary man who was abused by three caregivers believe the 92-year-old’s death was hastened by his assault, court heard Tuesday.

In a victim impact statement prepared by Ulrich (Uli) Wissner’s son, Peter Wissner said the family suffers the guilt of not making his final days more comfortable.

“Our family believes that Uli’s own life ended sooner as a result of the assault,” the son wrote, in the statement read in by Crown prosecutor Susan Kennedy.

“At the very least the assault resulted in ... the last month of his life being afraid, mostly alone, helpless and angry, instead of comfortable, safe and loved,” he wrote.

The younger Wissner said his father became reluctant to eat, take medications, or receive basic care following the assault on Feb. 7, 2014.

The elder Wissner died March 6, 2014, less than a month after he was attacked by caregivers Maria Dumo, Anjela Borja and May Casimero at the CareWest Garrison Green on Don Ethell Blvd. S.W.

The assault was captured on a surreptitiously placed video camera the son installed after his father repeatedly complained he was being hurt by his caregivers.

“Three individuals have been identified and terminated, but we cannot be certain these were the only ones mistreating Uli,” the son said.

He said the family can no longer take comfort with the belief the victim’s final days were comfortable.

Abridged
SOURCE:      The Calgary Sun

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Elder abuse ­— Senior citizens are victims, too

 July 21, 2015 

The Sun Current -

Nearly 100 elderly Minnesotans per day are suffering from neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, financial abuse and isolation, according to the most recent statistics.

Loren Colman, assistant commissioner of Continuing Care for Older Adults for the state Human Services department, reported that in 2014 there were 35,877 reports of abuse to the elderly: 46.9 percent were caregiver neglect, 23 percent self-neglect, 17 percent financial exploitation, 10 percent physical and emotional, and 3.2 percent mental.

Seniors are the fastest growing group in Minnesota, with some predicting that by 2020 they will equal the number of children in K-12 education. According to the last federal census, 13 percent of Minnesotans are 65 and over. That number is predicted to be 20 percent by 2050.

Often elderly abuse is undetected because the aging are reluctant to reveal it, and their close families are hesitant to deal with it. Ironically, immediate family members are the biggest abusers, while they also can be the first to recognize and help elderly family members.

One growing concern is financial abuse. The elderly are increasingly victims of scams, fraud and outright theft, sometimes committed by close family members.

Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo tracks elderly abuse cases. He says that two-thirds of cases involve family members, particularly those who have the power of attorney and write checks on the elderly’s accounts. Elderly women are especially victims, Palumbo says.

Carmen Castaneda, program manager of adult services for Hennepin County, estimates 90 percent of elderly abuse complaints involve the family. Last year there were 700 new allegations of financial exploitation reported in the county. Palumbo noted that banks now have the authority to monitor suspicious transactions involving the elderly.

The Minnesota Department of Health, through its Department of Adult Protection, is the lead agency for investigating elderly abuse claims. Treatment is provided through counties.

On July 1, the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center for reporting the abuse of vulnerable adults – including the elderly – went live at 844-880-1574. The center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Identity of the reporters is protected, and reporters can ask to receive a notice of the initial outcome of the report.

Castaneda says she now has the staff to check on reported allegations within a half hour. She praised Hennepin County management and the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners for increasing funding for more staff.

According to the Department of Human Services, all 87 counties have adult protection units responsible for assessing and investigating reports of suspected maltreatment and offering protective services to vulnerable adults. State agencies investigate reports involving nursing facilities or group homes.

Abridged
SOURCE:  The Sun Current

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Leaders Begin Elder Abuse Examination

July 20, 2015

South Dakota leaders are analyzing elder abuse. The Chief Justice of South Dakota’s Supreme Court David Gilbertson says the often hidden crimes of elder abuse are becoming bigger problems as more people age. All three branches of government are part of a task force trying to understand who is taking advantage of the state’s aging people, how they’re doing it, and what can be done to prevent and punish elder abuse.

Elder abuse takes many forms, but a discussion about money pierces Steve Mielke.

“I mean, just looking through the slides and what they’re discussing, I could just feel in the pit of my stomach of this is exactly, they’re talking about my dad,” Mielke says.

This year Mielke lost his father after a stroke, but it’s the time leading up to his death that brings Mielke to a conference about elder abuse.

“He had been with an individual for about two years, and we’d seen a steady decline in his spending time with the family and then how his funding and his financial situation had changed drastically – to where he had been selling some land and then how that money had all gone away and just basically had totally changed,” Mielke says.

This is not a unique story.

National experts say physical, emotional, and financial abuse of the elderly is under-reported and under-prosecuted.

Abridged
SOURCE:   SDPB RADIO
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Elderly Need Advocates Against Scammers

July 19, 2015

Like blood-sucking mosquitoes and ticks, scam artists are a sure sign of summer. Although they target the elderly and other vulnerable citizens year ‘round, warmer weather seems to be their peak season.

They have been surfacing locally for the last month. One of their most recent capers occurred last Tuesday in Upper Darby where a 75-year-old woman lost $3,000 in a classic “pigeon drop” scheme in which the scammers left her with a bag full of cut-up newspapers instead of the promised cash for making a “donation.”

A similar scam was perpetrated upon a senior citizen in Glenolden on July 2 and on a 54-year-old woman in Caln Township, Chester County, on June 23. Police in all three municipalities are working together to determine if the same flim-flammers were at work.

In Upper Darby, the victim, was approached at a Glendale Road shopping center by a man who appeared to be in his early 50s, had a dark complexion and was wearing a black suit, black hat and sunglasses and carried a brown shoulder bag. He said his brother had just died in Africa and he was looking for a “credible Christian person” to help him make a church donation in his brother’s memory. Then he showed her a brown bag he said was filled with money which he would share with her if she gave him $3,000.

After the woman withdrew $3,000 from her bank, she was approached by a second man who appeared to be in his early 40s, had a brown complexion and was wearing a brown plaid shirt and a brown and black hat. He told her she was a good Christian, she put her money in his brown bag and he handed her another brown bag, instructing her not to open it until she got home.

In the Glenolden caper, the scammers, described as two black males with African accents approached their target in a supermarket parking lot. One told her he needed donations to return to Africa and if she gave them $700 they would give her $40,000 in return. They even took her to lunch at fast food restaurant before she went to her bank and withdrew $700 and gave it to them. They gave her a bandanna supposedly full of money, prayed over it and told her not to open it until she got home. A bandanna was also used to convey fake money to the Caln Township woman who withdrew a lot of cash from her bank and gave it to the scammers after watching the men pretend to withdraw money from another bank.

Abridged
SOURCE:  The Daily Times, Editorials

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Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force Offers Safety Tips, Crisis numbers

The Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force, chaired by Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds with the help of many volunteers, is helping to bring awareness of elder abuse to the public.

For every one case of elder abuse that comes to the attention of a responsible entity, another 23 cases never come to light, according to the New York State Elder Abuse Prevalence Study.

Beginning in 2012, Baby Boomers began turning age 65 at a rate of one every ten seconds or 10,000 per day.

Georgia has the 11th fastest-growing population of people age 60 plus.

By 2030, one in five will be over the age of 60.

Elder abuse is any knowing, intentional or negligent act by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or a serious risk of harm to a vulnerable adult, taking place in many forms or a combination of those listed below:

Physical Abuse/Domestic Violence: the nonaccidental use of force that results in bodily injury, pain or impairment such as being slapped, burned, cut, bruised or improperly physically restrained.
Deprivation of Essential Services: the willful deprivation of social, medical, psychiatric or legal services such as the provision of medical or psychiatric care, assistance in personal hygiene, deprivation of food, clothing or adequately heated and ventilated shelter or protections from health and safety hazards in general.
Sexual Abuse: nonconsensual sexual contact of any kind such as forcing sexual contact or forcing sex with a third party.
Emotional Abuse: willful infliction of mental or emotional anguish by threat, humiliation, intimidation or other abusive conduct such as frightening or isolating an adult.
Financial Exploitation: illegal or improper use of an adult's funds, property or resources by another individual such as fraud, false pretenses, embezzlement, conspiracy, forgery, falsifying records, coerced property transfers or denial of access to assets.
Neglect: the willful deprivation of health care, shelter or necessary sustenance to the extent that an older person's health or well-being is jeopardized - as defined by Georgia law.
Also, it is a crime to threaten, intimidate or attempt to intimidate any person cooperating with an elder abuse investigation, including the potential victim.
Elder abuse generally involves an ongoing relationship with an expectation of trust with power and control dynamics often present.

Several indicators of possible elder abuse are:

Victim Indicators

• Shows unexplained or sudden changes in behavior
• Is afraid to speak in the presence of the offender
• Is isolated
• Signs of being restrained
• Infections, pain or bleeding in genital areas
• Under- or over-medicated
• Left in feces and/or urine
• Important possessions, documents or credit cards are missing

Suspect Indicators

• Provides conflicting explanations about the older adult's injuries
• Isolates the older adult
• Controls and dominates the older adult
• Portrays self as the victim or the only caring person in the older adult's life
• May be charming and helpful toward professionals

Environmental Indicators

• Strong odors of urine and/or feces
• Lack of food
• Locks on outside of doors to keep older individual in a room
• Damage to home caused by abusive behavior

Abridged
SOURCE:    The AJC News

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White House Conference on Aging Abuses Elders by Ignoring Injustice

Post Conference Disappointment and Anger

July 19, 2015

It can be concluded from other post-conference e-mail reports that Tom Fields and others did their best before the July 13th WHCOA, and during the conference itself, to address the current rampant abuse by legal professional guardians.  Mr. Fields, wishing he could have applauded the conference for doing so, instead encountered a conference that never touched upon the topic, the same having occurred in nearly every other such forum conducted by the administration's government. They include the Elder Justice Coordinating Council that was created by the Elder Justice Act (and mentioned during the conference); the Administration on Aging (and its parent, Health and Human Services); and the U.S. Senate’s Special Committee on Aging.

As Mr. Fields wrote in one of his e-mails:

"Not only did the WHCOA refuse to address such abuse, but it impeded efforts by myself and others from doing so.  How?  First by demanding that I stop circulating a handout at the regional forum which I attended, and second by refusing to share tweets which I and others sent during the conference."

In that the conference could and should have tried to help advocates like Tom Fields network with other advocates, it didn’t accomplish this. Instead, it pushed its own agenda, one which deliberately ignored the issue identified by the tweet noted above, further exemplified by this 3-minute ABC News video presented on-line, which the conference refused to play and discuss.

Abridged

SOURCE:   The Heartlander Magazine

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