Elder abuse

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Elder abuse (also called " older abuse ", " senior abuse ", "abuse in subsequent life "," older adult abuse "," older women abuse ", and" older male abuse ") are" singular, or repeated acts, or lack of appropriate action, occurs in any relationship where there is a hope of trust, which causes harm or distress for an elderly person. "This definition has been adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the definition put forward by Action on Elder Abuse in the UK. Laws that protect parents from harassment are similar to those that protect adult dependents of abuse.

This includes hazards by persons known to older persons, or having relationships with, such as spouses, associates or family members, friends or neighbors, or persons with older persons relying on services. Many forms of elderly abuse are recognized as a type of domestic violence or family violence because they are committed by family members. Paid care providers have also been known to prey on their elderly patients.

Although there are various circumstances that are considered parental abuse, it does not include general criminal activity against older people, such as home burglary, "muggings" on the street or "intrusion disorder", where foreigners distract older people on the verge door, while others enter the property to steal.

Abuse of elders by caregivers is a world problem. In 2002, the WHO brought international attention to the issue of elderly abuse. Over the years, government agencies and community professional groups, worldwide, have established elderly abuse as a social issue. In 2006, the International Network for the Prevention of the Elderly Abuse (INPEA) adopted June 15 as World Elder Misuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) and an increasing number of events are held worldwide today to raise awareness of parental abuse, and highlight ways to challenge such abuse.

Video Elder abuse

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While there are common themes of parental abuse across the country, there are also unique manifestations based on the history, culture, economic power, and social perceptions of the older people in the countries themselves. The basic general denomination is the use of power and control by one individual to affect the welfare and status of others, the older, the individual.

There are several types of harassment against older people who are generally recognized as elderly harassment, including:

• Physical : e.g. hitting, punching, slapping, burning, pushing, kicking, holding, imprisoning/false confinement, or giving excessive or undue medication and withholding medication and treatment.
• Psychological/Emotional : e.g. disgrace someone. A common theme is the offender who identifies something that is important to an older person and then uses it to force an older person into a particular action. It may take verbal forms such as shouting, naming, mocking, constantly criticizing, accusing, blaming, or non-verbal forms such as ignoring, silencing, avoiding or attracting attention.
• Elder's financial misuse : also known as financial exploitation, including misuse of financial resources by family members, caregivers, or strangers, or the use of financial means to control people or facilitate other types of misuse..
• Sexual : e.g. forcing a person to take part in any sexual activity without his consent, including forcing them to participate in a sexual conversation contrary to their will; may also include situations where people can no longer give consent (dementia)
• Ignore : e.g. depriving a person of appropriate medical care, food, heat, clothing or comfort or essential medicines and depriving a person of the services required to force certain actions, financial and otherwise. Ignoring can include leaving the risk (ie the risk of falling) unattended parents. Deprivation may be intentional (active neglect) or occur due to lack of knowledge or resources (passive negligent).

In addition, some U.S. state laws also recognize the following as abuse of old age:

• Abandonment : leaving a person who relies on the intention of leaving them or leaving them unattended somewhere for such a period may harm their health or well-being. Violence by parents includes leaving an elderly person and depending on the intention to leave them or leave them unattended somewhere for such a period may be jeopardizing their health or well-being.
• Violation of rights : deny the civil and constitutional rights of an elderly person, but not declared by the court mentally incapable. This is an aspect of parental abuse that is increasingly recognized and adopted by the state.
• Self-indulgence : Everyone ignores himself or herself by not caring about his own health, well-being, or safety. Ignoring myself (hurting myself) is treated conceptually different from abuse (harmful to others). Self-ignoring elders can cause illness, injury, or even death. The general need that older adults may deny themselves, or ignore is as follows: Rezeki (food or water); cleanliness (bath and personal hygiene); adequate clothing for climate protection; decent place to stay; adequate security; a clean and healthy environment; medical attention to serious illness; essential medicines. Self-ignorance is often created by a decreased consciousness or mental ability of the individual. Some older adults may choose to deny themselves some health or safety benefits, which may not be self-neglecting. This may be just their personal choice. Caregivers and other responsible individuals should respect these options if older adults sound healthy. In other cases, older adults may lack the resources needed, as a result of poverty, or other social conditions. It is also not regarded as "self-neglect".
• Institutional harassment refers to physical or psychological damage, as well as rights violations in settings where care and assistance is provided to older adults or others, such as nursing homes. A recent study of about 2,000 residents of a nursing home facility in the United States reported an increase in harassment rates of 44% and neglect to 95%, making elderly misuse in nursing homes a danger. Appropriate statistics are rare because of the abuse of the elderly in general and particularly in nursing homes as a silent condition.

Maps Elder abuse

Alerts

The key to prevention and intervention of elderly misuse is the ability to recognize warning signs of the event. Signs of age harassment vary depending on the type of violence experienced by the victim. Each type of harassment has different signs associated with it.

• Physical abuse can be detected by visible signs of the body, including bruises, scars, sprains, or broken bones. Indications of a smoother physical torture include signs of restraint, such as a wrist strap mark, or broken glasses.
• Emotional abuse often accompanies other types of abuse and can usually be detected by changes in personality or behavior. Elders can also demonstrate the behavior of imitating dementia, such as rocking or muttering. Emotional abuse is the least reported abuse of aging misuse. Parental abuse occurs when a person fails to treat an elder with respect and includes verbal abuse, an older one experiencing social isolation, or lack of recognition. Some indicators of the emotional effects of aging oppression are unresponsive or uncommunicative adult adults. Also they can be unreasonably suspicious or afraid, more isolated, and do not want to be as social as ever. Emotional abuse is being reported, but it can have the most destructive effect as it leads to greater physical and mental health problems.
• Financial exploitation is a more subtle form of abuse, compared to other types, and may be more challenging to note. Signs of financial exploitation include significant withdrawals from accounts, items or money lost from home, unpaid bills, and unnecessary goods or services.
• Sexual harassment, such as physical violence, can be detected by visible signs of the body, especially around the breast or genital area. Other signs include unexplained infections, bleeding, and torn underwear.
• Ignore is a type of abuse that can be caused by a nanny or yourself. Signs of neglect include malnutrition and dehydration, poor hygiene, non-compliance with prescription drugs, and unsafe living conditions.

In addition to observing the signs in elderly individuals, abuse can also be detected by monitoring changes in caregiver behavior. For example, caregivers may not allow them to speak or accept visitors, showing indifference or lack of affection for elders, or referring to elders as "burdens." Caregivers with a history of substance abuse or mental illness are more likely to abuse old age than others.

Abuse can sometimes be subtle, and therefore difficult, to be detected. Regardless, awareness and research organizations advise to take any suspicion seriously and to address concerns adequately and promptly.

Signs of elderly abuse

• Fractures or broken bones
• Poor Physical Appearance
• Mental status change
• Frequent Infection
• Bruises, wounds or cuts
• Unexplained weight loss
• Disclaimer to speak
• Signs of dehydration
• Lack of cleanliness

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Health consequences

The health consequences of serious old abuse. Parental abuse can destroy the quality of life of parents in the form of:

• Declined functionality
• Increased dependency
• Increased sense of helplessness
• Increased stress
• Deterioration of psychological deterioration
• Premature death and morbidity
• Depression and dementia
• Malnutrition
• Bed wound
• Off

The risk of death for victims of elderly abuse is three times higher than non-victims.

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Perpetrators

The offender may be a spouse, spouse, relative, friend or neighbor, volunteer, paid worker, practitioner, lawyer or other individual in order to deprive their vulnerable resources. You include adult children and their spouse or spouse, their offspring and other extended family members. Living children and relatives who have a history of substance abuse or other life problems are of special concern. For example, rough HFE individuals are more likely to be relatives, chronic unemployed, and dependent on parents. In addition, previous studies estimated that between 16% and 38% of all older users had a history of mental illness. Abuse of the elderly committed by individuals with mental illness can be reduced by reducing the level of dependence that people with serious mental illness have family members. This can be done by channeling more resources into housing assistance programs, intensive care management services, and better welfare benefits for individuals with serious mental illness. People with substance abuse and mental health disorders typically have very small social networks, and these confinements contribute to the abuse of parents as a whole.

The perpetrator of elderly abuse may include anyone who has the trust, control or authority over that individual. Family relations, neighbors and friends, all socially regarded as a trust relationship, whether older adults really regard people as "trustworthy". Some actors may "take care" of older people (making friends or building relationships with them) to build trust relationships. Older people who live alone who have no adult children living nearby are particularly vulnerable to "care" by neighbors and friends who will be hoping to master their garden.

The majority of perpetrators are relatives, usually adult couples/adult couples or sons and daughters, although different types of harassment are appropriate to the relationship. In some situations, harassment is "domestic violence gets older," a situation where the coarse behavior of a spouse or partner continues into old age. In some situations, an older couple may seek to care and support each other and fail, in the absence of external support. With sons and daughters, it tends to be a financial misuse, justified by the belief that it is nothing more than a "legacy down payment" property, valuables and money.

In a paid care environment, abuse can occur for various reasons. Some abuse is a deliberate act of cruelty perpetrated by an individual against an older person. In fact, a case study in Canada shows that high old misuse statistics come from repeat offenders who, like in other forms of abuse, practice abusing parents for Schadenfreude associated with the law. More generally, institutional violations or omissions may reflect a lack of knowledge, lack of training, lack of support, or insufficient resources. Institutional harassment may be a consequence of a common practice or process that is part of running an institution or care service. Sometimes this type of harassment is called a "bad practice", although this term reflects the offender's motive (the cause) rather than the impact on the older person.

With the current age of the population, there is the potential that older abuse will increase unless it is recognized and addressed more broadly.

Parental abuse does not parallel directly with child molestation, as perpetrators of elderly abuse have no equal legal protection to the rights of children's parents. For example, a court order is required to remove a child from their home but not to remove victims of their elderly abuse.

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Risk factors

There are several risk factors, which increases the likelihood that parents will become victims of elderly abuse. Such risk factors for elderly misuse include parents who:

• Have memory problems (such as dementia)
• Have physical flaw
• Have depression, loneliness, or lack of social support
• Abusing alcohol or other substances
• Whether verbally or physically contrary to caregiver
• Have a shared life situation

There are also several risk factors, which increases the likelihood that the caregiver will participate in the abuse of old age. Such risk factors for aging misuse include caregivers who:

• Feeling overwhelmed or upset
• Have a history of substance abuse or misuse history of others
• Depends on the older person for housing, finance, or other needs
• Have mental health problems
• Not idle
• Have a criminal history
• Have a shared life situation
• Lower incomes or poverty have been found related to old age harassment. Low economic resources have been conceptualized as contextual or situational stressors that contribute to old age harassment
• Staying with a large number of family members other than couples is associated with an increased risk of abuse, especially financial misuse.

Risk factors can also be categorized into individuals, relationships, communities and socio-cultural levels. At an individual level, parents who have poor physical and mental health have a higher risk. At the relationship level, the situation of living together is a major risk factor for parents. Living in the same area as the offender is more likely to cause harassment. Third, at the community level, social isolation is caused by caregivers. In addition, some socio-cultural risk factors that may contribute to elderly abuse are the representation of older people as weak and dependent, lack of funds to pay for care, children leaving their own elderly parents and destroying ties between family generations.

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Research and statistics

There is a general lack of reliable data in this area and it is often said that the absence of data is a reflection of the low priority given for work related to older people. However, over the past decade, there has been much research on the nature and extent of parental abuse. Research still varies in the definitions used, who is being asked, and what is asked. As a result, the statistics used in this field vary greatly.

One study showed that about 25% of vulnerable adults would report abuse the previous month, with a total of up to 6% of the general elderly population. However, several consistent themes have begun to emerge from interactions with abused parents, and through small and limited research projects. Work done in Canada shows that about 70% of older oppression is committed against women and this is supported by evidence from AEA helicopters in the UK, which identifies women as victims in 67% of calls. Also later domestic violence may be a continuation of long-term partner violence and in some cases, harassment may begin with a pension or a health condition. Of course, abuse increases with age, with 78% of victims over the age of 70.

A higher proportion of spousal killings support the suggestion that abuse of older women is often a continuation of long-term partner abuse against women. Conversely, the risk of murder for older men is much greater outside the family than inside. This is an important point because domestic violence is often unrecognized and consequently a strategy, which has proved effective in the arena of domestic violence, has not been routinely transferred into circumstances involving the abuse of an older person's family.

According to the AEA aid channel in the UK, the persecution occurred mainly in family homes (64%), followed by housing maintenance (23%), and then hospital (5%), although aid channels did not always provide a true reflection of such situations on the physical and mental abilities of people to utilize these resources.

Research conducted in New Zealand extensively supports the above findings, with some variations. Of the 1,288 cases in 2002-2004, 1201 people, 42 couples, and 45 groups were found to have been abused. Of these, 70 percent are women. Psychological harassment (59%), followed by material/finance (42%), and physical abuse (12%) are the most frequently identified types of abuse. Sexual harassment occurs in 2% of reported cases. New Zealand age concerns found that most of the perpetrators were family members (70%), most often sons or daughters (40%). Older offenders (those over 65) are more likely to be husbands.

In 2007, 4,766 cases of alleged abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation involving older adults were reported, a 9 percent increase over 2006. 19 incidents related to death, and a total of 303 incidents were considered life-threatening. About one in 11 incidents involves a life-threatening or fatal situation.

In 2012, this study is called Pure Financial Exploitation vs. Hybrid Exploitation Happened Together with Physical Abuse and/or Parental Abandonment by Shelly L. Jackson and Thomas L. Hafemeister paying attention to hybrid abuse experienced by older people. The study revealed that victims of hybrid or HFE financial exploitation lost an average of $ 185,574, a range of $ 20- $ 750,000.

Obstacles to get stats

Some conditions make it difficult for researchers to obtain accurate statistics about elderly abuse. Researchers may find it difficult to get accurate old abuse statistics for the following reasons:

• Parental abuse is largely a hidden problem and tends to be done in the privacy of a parent's home, mostly by members of his family
• Victims of abuse often are unwilling to report their abuse for fear of others not believing, fear of losing independence, fear of being institutionalized, fear of losing their sole social support (especially if the perpetrator is a brother), and fear becomes the target of future retaliation by the perpetrator (s),
• Deaths of parents who abuse victims and ill health can prevent them from reporting their abuse
• Lack of proper training of service providers, such as social workers, law enforcement, nurses, etc., about old age harassment, therefore the reported number of cases tends to poor poor parents
• The subjective nature of elderly misuse, which relies heavily on one's interpretation.
• Another reason why there are no accurate statistics is the debate about whether to enter negligence or not. Many are not sure if it should be included because it does not involve other people as perpetrators. Those who oppose the inclusion of self-abandoning make claims that it is a different form of harassment and thus, should not be included in the statistics. Due to these and other differences mentioned above, it is difficult to obtain accurate data on the abuse of the elderly.

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Prevention

Doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel can play an important role in helping victims of elderly abuse. Studies have shown that parents, on average, do 13.9 visits per year to doctors. Despite the increased awareness of age abuse over the years, doctors tend to report only 2% of older abuse cases. Reasons for lack of reporting by physicians include lack of current knowledge of state laws on elderly misuse, concerns about perpetrators' anger and damaging relationships with elderly patients, possible court appearance, lack of cooperation from patients or elderly families, and lack of time and replacement. Through education and training on old age harassment, healthcare professionals can better help older victims of torture.

Educating and training them in the criminal justice system, such as police, prosecutors, and the judiciary, about old age harassment, as well as increased legislation to protect elders, will also help minimize old age harassment and will also provide better assistance to abuse elders.

In addition, community involvement in responding to old age harassment may contribute to the safety of parents. In general, preventing the occurrence or repetition of further abuse not only helps the elderly but also can increase the anxiety and depression of their caregivers as well. Communities can develop structured programs to meet the needs of parents. For example, some communities across the United States have created a Team of Financial Abuse Specialists, a multi-disciplinary group of public and private professionals who volunteer to take the time to advise the Adult Protection Service (APS), law enforcers and private lawyers to issues of vulnerable adult financial abuse.

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See also

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References

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Further reading

• Nerenberg, Lisa Elder Abuse Prevention: Emerging Trends and Promising Strategies (2007)

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External links

• The World Health Organization website
• https://ncea.acl.gov/whatwedo/research/statistics.html
• National Center for Elderly Elderly (NCEA)
• Senior Abuse & amp; Infographic Prevention
• Elder abuse of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Source of the article : Wikipedia