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Outline of an informative essay elder abuse
Causes and consequences of elderly abuse
Elderly abuse by family members
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Recommended: Outline of an informative essay elder abuse
Problem Statement
A current issue in society is the abuse of the elderly. Elder abuse is “a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action that causes an older person harm or distress within any relationship in which there is an expectation of trust” (Touza 2017). It can severely reduce the quality of life for the elderly. In the United States, more than 4 in every 500 adults over the age of 60 experiences some form of elder mistreatment, however less than ten percent of abuse cases are reported, and as the elderly population increases, the cases of elder abuse increase as well (Friedman, Avila & Partida 2017). It is a traditional practice that younger generation are responsible for caring for the elderly, but sometimes the elderly may
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To expose current elderly abuse, health professionals must be educated about abuse and appropriately screen the elderly, because they are often the only caregivers the elderly will come into contact with outside of the home (Touza 2017). To prevent elder abuse, society must first expose the existing abuse to raise awareness, and educate the elderly, their families, and caregivers, if they are separate from the family (Kalayci 2016). Also, there must be resources provided to those family members or caregivers who are experiencing stress or frustration, so they can remain patient and helpful in taking care of the elderly (Friedman, Avila & Partida …show more content…
Aid must be provided for elderly adults who have previously been abused so it does not reoccur. Also, resources must be provided for families and caregivers to prevent stress and frustration due to caring for the elderly, especially with mental or memory health concerns. The articles used in the research for this paper provided useful information. “Perceptions of the Elderly on Elderly Abuse” provided survey information concerning elderly abuse in the point of view of the elderly. “Physical Abuse of Elderly Adults: Victim Characteristics and Determinants of Revictimization” was useful in providing information about the commonalities among cases of elderly abuse. “Influence of Health Personnel's Attitudes and Knowledge in the Detection and Reporting of Elder Abuse: An Exploratory Systematic” was useful in explaining how health professionals can play a role in preventing elderly
This purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of elder abuse and neglect on victims. This essay will discuss how elder abuse and neglect affect the victims physically, emotionally, and neglect. The use of logos, pathos, and ethos will also be used in the essay. According to Dong, 2017 2 million elders experience elder abuse and neglect each year some twice or more a year, and many cases are not reported. Many confrontations of elder abuse and neglect are done in nursing homes. Some of these cases of abuse are done in these elders homes by family members.
Assisted Living Facilities abuse is a frequently occurring problem in our society (Hamilton). There are diverse categories of abuse that transpire in Assisted Living Facilities which are physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, abandonment, and financial abuse. Samples of physical abuse would be hitting or beating the elders with an object or their hand, force feeding them or pulling their hands. Sexual abuse is the Assisted Living Facility employees having sexual acts with non-consenting patients. Emotional abuse is the employees saying things verbally to torment the patient. Neglect would be the employee does not take care of the patients such as providing hygiene. Abandonment occurs when leaving patients to fend for themselves. Financial abuse is when the patient’s family pays for the services that were not taken care of. “Elder abuse is fast becoming one of the uppermost law enforcement tasks of the next century, “said Paul Hodge who investigates crime against the elderly (Gonzalez). Since abuse occurs throughout assisted living facilities, state and federal governments should establish a type of punishment such as sending for employees to prison, ways to prevent abusing elderly’s is by inspecting employees ' criminal records, qualified staff, reporting injuries, having surveillance of the areas that do not affect patients privacy, promoting continuous family visits, and shortage of staffing.
Elder Abuse is defined as any activity performed by an individual whereby these actions cause suffering of the older adult, intentionally or not (Touhy, Jett, Boscart & McCleary, 2012, p. 378). Unfortunately, the incidents of elder abuse continue to rise with the increasing number of people entering older adulthood. It is interesting to note that although elder abuse is highly under reported its occurrence increased three fold over a ten-year period (Friese & Collopy, 2010, p. 61). Certainly, it is a nurse’s duty to provide holistic care to his or her patients, which must include protection from abuse. Elder abuse can take on many forms including physical, emotional, sexual, neglect and financial. It is important to note that for the purposes of this paper, this writer will focus solely on financial abuse. When one considers the definition of financial abuse, it is deemed to be a misuse of another individual’s finances for ones own monetary gain. Thus, this type of abuse has become the most common and fastest growing form of all. As such, it is important for all nurses to understand financial abuse and who is at risk, how it presents, and what can be done to prevent it in order to protect the elderly.
Did you know that, according to the National Institute of Justice website, “There are few reliable national measures of elder abuse. This is partially because there is no uniform reporting system for elder abuse in the U.S.” ("Extent of Elder Abuse Victimization," 2015). It is sad that, in a country as developed as ours, we have no standard way of reporting elder abuse.
In the medical field, the workers are highly trained to be able to make a distinction between what is right and what is wrong. Elder abuse is becoming a serious issue in the health environment. As defined in the website, MedicineNet.com, elder abuse is: “the physical, sexual, or emotional abuse of an elderly person, usually one who is disabled or frail”. The older population consists of people over sixty-five years old. They are very fragile and sometimes they are forgotten or abused. The elderly can be victims of mistreatment in nursing homes, hospitals, or even in their own house. Nursing is the act of promoting health for others, and of providing care and security with the skills nurses have acquired. However, those who are nursing can also harm, or hurt people by advising them. Elder abuse can take many forms such as financial abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse.
With respect to older women, the issue is that there is a serious lack in differentiating between elder abuse and domestic violence. The discrepancy causes confusion as to what agency to report either volunteered or mandated cases of abuse (Kilbane & Spira, 2010). Furthermore, it is because of reporting errors that victims of abuse may not receive the services that are congruent to the type of abuse (Kilbane & Spira, 2010) indicating, “…a lack of centralized reporting of cases….” (Kilbane & Spira, 2010, p. 165).
The article, Elderly health care: The line between care and killing, from the Hearld-Review, illustrates the many problems the courts have with elder abuse cases. The case involved the death of 91 year-old Maria “Concha” Lopez of Madera, California who was being cared for by her 26 year-old grandniece, Stephanie Hernandez. Ms. Hernandez called 911 when her Aunt stopped breathing and told the dispatcher that her aunt’s bones were too fragile for CPR, so the dispatcher gave instructions for basic mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Arriving firefighters and paramedics were inundated with the odor of urine, feces, and rotting flesh emanating from piles of soiled diapers, used bandages and the patient. Ms. Lopez’s had dementia and would not go near doctors. She weighed about 35 pounds and had bedsores so deep that you could touch her bones and the metal rod in her hip. Ms. Hernandez was arrested and charged with murder for failure to give adequate care to her aunt. The trial took five weeks with the defense attorneys showing Ms. Hernandez as a loving niece whose efforts kept an old woman alive and the prosecutor showing autopsy photos and describing the woman’s condition as the result of severe criminal negligence. Ms. Hernandez’s mother worked in the fields and left her in the care of four great-aunts. Ms. Lopez watched her three sisters die in hospitals and made her family promise that she would not be taken to a hospital. The family expected Ms. Hernandez, who also had a small child, to take care of Ms. Lopez after she broke her hip. During the trial, the experts disagreed on whether the bed sores were caused by neglect or because her skin failed when she lost over half her body weight. The jury deliberated for two days and ev...
Elder abuse is a very sad reality. With an understanding of what the term elder abuse encompasses, who is at risk, what the warning signs are, the statutes that are there to protect the elderly, who is mandated to report the abuse, and how to report the abuse, it is important to minimize the crime. As with all things, the most important way to prevent something from happening is to educate, and elder abuse is no different. If care takers had education about the numerous resources there are, such as support groups and counseling, elder abuse could possibly be decreased exponentially.
Elder abuse is causing emotional, physical or sexual harm, financial exploitation, or intentional or unintentional neglect to someone of greater age, whether it be from a family member or a stranger. Elder abuse has been a social issue for many years prior to any kind of legislation being made. Victims of elder abuse are often older adults ages 60 to 75 and the person abusing the elder is usually someone the victim knows, but could be a stranger in certain cases.
Of nursing home staff interviewed in 2004, nearly 40% admitted to committing at least one psychologically abusive act toward a resident and 10% admitted to physically abusing a resident in the preceding year.[1] Not only are nursing home residents at risk of being abused by their caretakers but they are also at risk of being restrained, which may lead to a form of abuse. With five percent of the elderly population, or one to two million instances of elder abuse occurring yearly there is no doubt that elder abuse deserves serious consideration.[2]
There are currently two important pieces of legislation that address elder abuse issues. The Older Americans Act must submit to a reauthorization process every five years. Throughout the years there have been many adaptations to the act. Presently, there are four sections that apply to elder abuse primarily in the form of research processes, grant eligibili...
According to the Nation Council on Aging (NCOA), “approximately 1 in 10 Americans aged 60 and up have experienced some form of elder abuse. Some estimates range as high as 5 million elders who are abuse each year.” More specifically, a study based in New York estimated that 260,00 (1 in 13) older adults in the state of New York were victims of at least one form of elder abuse in the preceding year. The study revealed that major financial exploitation was self-reported at a rate of 41 per 1,000 surveyed, which was higher than self-reported rates o emotional, physical and sexual abuse or neglect. (NCEA, 2016). But, sadly with all of the issues of abuse only 1 in 14 cases of abuse get reported to authorities (NCOA, 2017). These situations of abuse are happening by both men and women, with 60% of the abuse performed by family members (NCOA, 2017). The population of elderly is increasing every year and with the elder being the most vulnerable we need to put an end to the incidences of abuse. Now that we have a better understanding of the prevalence and different forms of elder abuse that are present in our healthcare system, there is a question of why these things happen to elders specifically. Why are elderly patients subjected to these forms of
Many seniors around the world are being abused and harmed in some substantial way often by people who are directly responsible for their care (Robinson, 2016). Neglect of all forms causes harm to a patients overall well-being. Neglect happens in 60% of people and physical abuse happens to 15% of people (Franklin, 2013). There are three different types of neglect that can happen especially to the elderly. The three types of neglect are mental, emotional and physical neglect. Mental neglect, is basically ignoring or just not showing care or love for the patient. Emotional neglect is not only ignoring, but isolating the patient from others. Physical neglect which is causing physical injury to the body from rough handleing or non-supervision. Neglect is damaging not only to a body but also to the mind and over all
When discussing abuse and neglect we often think of children first. That being said, children are not the only ones who will be abused and/or neglected. In fact, this happens to some elderly as well. While some elderly may be productive enough to care for themselves, others are not. The end result is a complete (or close to complete) dependency on someone else for their needs. In addition, just like with children, this dependency can lead to abuse and/or neglect.