WORLD ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY 2008
The third annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day will be celebrated worldwide on June 15. Sponsored by the International Network for Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) and its partners, a related conference will be held in Ottawa, Canada, on June 16-17, 2008. Individuals, groups, and organizations are urged to attend, or to participate in this global event by accessing a Resource Tool Kit for information and ideas for organizing local activities at (www.inpea.net).
The focus of the two-day conference is learning about and understanding this very important, though less well-known, social and human rights issue that can, and should, be prevented. It is a global problem that is now being addressed not only by the United Nations, but by many nations around the world, including the US.
The US government, through the US Administration on Aging, Department of Health and Human Services, sponsors the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), and has passed legislation aimed at protecting older Americans. The National Institutes of Health's primary organization for research on elder abuse is the National Institute on Aging, and the US National Library of Medicine has an excellent website, www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus, a trove of information and related sources referenced by category.
All 50 states have laws against elder abuse. The laws differ, but all states have systems for reporting suspected abuse. The MedlinePlus website provides links to directories for helplines and hotlines by state and community, as well as a locater link, including a map, of services and providers for elder abuse in the U.S.
The importance of the issue of elder mistreatment cannot be emphasized too much, especially for those of us who still have one or both of our parents and also other loved ones who are no longer young. Living outside the United States complicates the issue; distance prevents our monitoring their care as frequently as could be necessary. Unfortunately, a frequent attitude is that it cannot happen in our family, or much less to us. It can and does. In the United States alone, according to the AGS Foundation for Health in Aging, research suggests that 700,000 to 1.2 million elderly people (4% of all adults older than 65) are subjected to elder abuse, and that 450,000 new cases occur annually.
Elder mistreatment takes place in several environments and in many forms, or combinations of forms. It happens within the family, most often when the family member appointed as caregiver is overwhelmed or undertrained. In formal care settings, such as nursing homes, the care-giving staff is often untrained or badly trained, or there may be an inadequate number of caregivers who may not be properly supervised. Within the community, mistreatment may take the form of exploitation by unscrupulous business people or other criminals, such as scam artists.
The abuse of elders, just as that of spouses, is not always easy to detect. A few clues to physical mistreatment are visible signs, such as bruises, malnourishment and poor hygiene. Psychological abuse may be detected by observing the behaviors of both the victim and the caregiver. For example, the victim avoids eye contact or darts eyes often; sits at a distance from caregiver; cringes, backs off, or startles easily as if expecting to be hit; allows caregiver to answer for him/her all the time. The caregiver may try to prevent private conversation or examination of the elderly person. She/he may be impatient, irritable, or try to explain the victim's behaviors by making up illogical reasons for it. He/She may make negative or demeaning statements about the person cared for.
As with many situations that appear to be one thing but, in fact, are another, it is important to keep one's perspective. However, it is advisable to trust one's instincts when elder mistreatment is suspected. Help and advice are available from a number of resources in addition to those cited above: www.inpea.net; the US Government National Center on Elder Abuse, http://elderabusecenter.org and ; and www.healthinaging.org. The NCEA's very informative booklet entitled "15 Questions & Answers about Elder Abuse" can be downloaded for distribution to individuals or groups.
If you come to suspect that one of your elderly loved ones, or even someone you know, is being abused or mistreated in any way, the first step is to contact the person's medical
care provider and tell him of your suspicions. He should report your suspicions to Adult Protective Services in the community in which the victim lives. You may also contact the APS yourself. In most states, a social worker will be sent to the elderly person's residence, whether at home or in a health care facility, and will either report back to you the results of the investigation, or will ask you to call back at some set day and time. Once it has been determined that mistreatment has or is occurring, a course of events, including involvement of the legal system, will be set in motion to find the option that least restricts the elderly person's independence, while at the same time protecting him/her.
Since life expectancy is increasing rapidly, it is logical to assume that cases of mistreatment of the elderly will increase at the same or greater rate. That can be prevented, however, by educating ourselves, family members, and friends about the phenomenon. A good way to start within FAWCO could be for clubs to hold round table discussions, or to invite a professional in the field to speak to members. Using the Resources Tool Kit from ipnea.net is a quick and easy way to get started.
Lee Iacovoni Sorenson
Chair, Ageing Committee
