The Types of abuse occur when acts are perpetrated as followed. Physical abuse occurs and is typically characterized by when any act of violence or pain is inflicted on the victim. The failure to provide basic necessities are not provided to the elderly victim; including lack of food, lack of shelter, lack of clothing, lack of medical care, and failing to provide for hygienic needs is considered to be neglect of the elderly person in need of care. Similar to neglect, abandonment spurs from the desertion of an elderly person by one who is the primary custodian or caretaker of the elderly victim. Sexual abuse involving any nonconsensual sexual acts against the elderly is also common in domestic and institutional settings. Psychological abuse is any mental harm to the elder through insults, threats, and other demeaning actions or words. Financial abuse generally occurs when the material goods of an elder are taken or withheld from the elderly person. Although there are distinct categories for abuse, an elderly victim may experience more than one or several types of this abuse.
Elder abuse cases tend to be complex with many factors and dimensions to the abuse. The need for improving the general understanding of elder abuse cases can help researchers and law enforcement to both develop and evaluate theory as to provide explanations for abuse. Research has succeeded as to bring attention to some of the characteristics which are common to the different types of elderly abuse.
Contrary to the common understanding of physical abuse, many elderly victims of physical abuse are in fair health and high functioning. Many studies try to refer to mental and physical impairments in an elderly person as a risk for abuse. However, the t...
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...rson is cut off from communication with others, the effects on the mind can be damaging as well as the fact that their abuse is likely to continue to go unnoticed if isolated.
The perpetrators of elderly abuse typically care for the victim, whether it be a family member or a caregiver from a nursing or assisted care facility. However, data from The National Elder Abuse Incidence Study 1998 characterized the perpetrators as being family members in “nine out of ten (89.7 percent) substantiated incidents of domestic elder abuse and neglect” (The Administration for Children and Families & The Administration on Aging, 1998). The report continues by stating that “Adult children of elder abuse victims were the most likely perpetrators of substantiated maltreatment (47.3 percent)” (The Administration for Children and Families & The Administration on Aging, 1998).
According to Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services, there are three things that elder abuse can be classified as. It can be classified as abuse, neglect, or likelihood of serious physical harm. While all of these classifications sounds quite similar, there are some subtle differences. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services defines abuse as " the infliction of physical, sexual, or emotional injury or harm including financial exploitation by any person, firm, or corporation" ("Protective Services For Adults," n.d., para. 4). Elder neglect is "the failure to provide services to an eligible adult by any person, firm, or corporation with a legal or contractual duty to do so, when such failure presents either an imminent danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the client or a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm would result"("Protective Services For Adults," n.d., para. 4). Abuse, neglect, as well as likelihood of serious physical harm are all reportable by law. ("Protective Services For Adults," n.d).
In the first section of the article the authors discuss the definition of elder abuse. The authors began with the most common types of elder abuse which are physical and neglect. Elder
"Elder Abuse and Neglect: In Search of Solutions." Http://www.apa.org. American Psychological Association, 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. .
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.
According to Daly, Schmeidel Klein, & Jogerst, (2012), when dealing with abuse issues, nurses need to be aware of reasons why an older person may not want to report abuse and take this into consideration when soliciting information. Then, nurses can provide adequate information and resources to the older adult that may help them deal with the abuse. In addition, since elder abuse is perpetrated by family members, caregivers, and other individuals, the most effective method to eliminate elder abuse is to promote elder abuse awareness in private homes and nurse care setting to education individuals about elder abuse, signs of elder abuse and hence improve their relationship with the older individuals. Patients should also be educated on elder abuse, their civil rights and how to seek help when they experience abuse. Nurses play a huge role in detecting elder-abuse especially during patient assessment. Furthermore, in support of nursing education, Muehlbauer & Crane argues
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]
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).
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.
Elderly abuse is growing every day as people live longer than before because of modern medicine. The older people lives, the more abuse they face. Elders suffer abuse because of poor health, low income, the death of loved ones and the loss of functions. In some circumstances, the abuser might be a family member or a caregiver
There has been an increase in the number of elderly that have been subjected to violence and mistreatment. This type of treatment is associated with the individual’s dependency on others; whether it be a relative, acquaintance and/or institution (Meadows, 2010). According to estimates “between 1 and 2 million Americans aged 65 years or older have been injured, exploited, or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for case or protection (National Research Council Panel to Review Risk and Prevalence of elder abuse and neglect, 2003)” (Meadows, 2010, p. 87). The type of abuse that elderly get subjected to is not only physical, it may also be emotional. Obviously, abuse may take on many different forms and may include: financial abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. This abuse is not limited to certain circumstances it can happen in poor, middle-class or upper income household. This includes a variety of demographs and ethnicities (Meadows, 2010). Anyone may potential cause abuse and/or neglect.
The physical abuse of an elder is defined as inflicting physical pain or injury on a senior. Some examples of physical abuse include slapping, bruising, and restraining by physical or chemical means. Older people get bruises much more easily than do younger people, but bruising alone is not sufficient evidence that an elderly person is being abused. Abusive behavior can be intentional or unintentional, but no matter the means of the person, if they are causing the elderly person to be in pain, they are indeed abusing them. Any injury that cannot be explained by an elder of sound mind should be interpreted as abuse and should be heavily investigated. Physical abuse, if intentional, is often accompanied by emotional abuse.
It can happen at home, in a nursing home, or even in public. Robinson, Saisan and Segal stated, “Sadly, two of the most common sources of elder abuse are abuse by a primary caregiver – often an adult child – and self-neglect.” Abuse happens every day. Many times, people suspect that their family member is abusing a loved one but are to ashamed to report it. Robinson, Saisan and Segal emphasize, “Everyone deserves to live with dignity and respect. The earlier you intervene in a situation of elder abuse, the better the outcome will be for everyone involved.” Another type or abuse that many tend to ignore is self-neglect. The Health and Wellness Resource Center reports, “Self-neglect is failing to preform essential, self-care tasks, to an extent that threatens personal health and safety.” Most times, the self-neglect is unintentional because the elder will refuse any type of help. “He or she may be in denial, feel ashamed about needing help, or worried about having to leave home. Don’t stop checking with the older adult, even if you are being brushed off…Sometimes a peer or neutral party, such as a geriatric care manager, may have a better chance or getting through.” When an elder refuses help one cannot force them to do something they don’t want to, but it is good to keep asking them if they want help so that when they do need help they are aware that someone is there for
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...
The second case of elder abuse is neglect, when caregivers lack the knowledge to properly care over someone. Adult Protection Services (APS) are often called to investigate and to ensure that self-care services are provided for the elders. In one of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services cases of elder abuse and neglect, family members caring for an elder woman were apparently unaware that they were abusing the elder. The family members did not realize that the women were in poor health that led a neighbor to suspect physical abuse. The neighbor contacted APS to investigate. The APS reported that the elder woman...
Elder abuse in nursing home is a social problem that has had more and more attention in these recent years. “Elder abuse is the most recent domestic violence issue to gain the attention of the public and the medical community.” (Elder Abuse: A Review) According to the Senate Special Committee, about 5 “million older Americans are abused and neglected every year.” Abuse for the elderly can be considered a social problem due to the people who are in denial of it actually occurring, for example, the caregivers and nurses who do not consider themselves to be actually performing the abuse. It is a problem because the elders are put into these nursing homes by loved ones and ones who