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Essay on risk factors for elder abuse
Review of elderly abuse
Elder Abuse in Healthcare Settings
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Elder abuse in nursing homes Elder abuse myth or truth some people believe that elder abuse does not exist. Some part of society has accepted that elder abuse does not exist. That the elder care system does not hire people that would cause harm in any physical or mental and emotional way.when a case comes up it is disclaimed and hidden so media doesn't make it public.the care workers usually say that the elder patient is just delusional or is hostile and or is going threw dementia.when it comes to the person taking care of the individual in the nursing home they will tell you usually what you want to hear. The care provider will tell you the necessary things you want to hear if they are getting paid. The people that abuse elders try and …show more content…
Physical abuse is one of the most common types of abuse that occurs in nursing homes. Compared to financial and other forms of abuse, physical abuse is very dangerous because it can cause long lasting and life threatening injuries.Up to 3 million people live in a nursing home 1 out of 3 have reported that they have been abused. 95% of residents report that they have seen other residents abused in some form. The older people bodys become and break down the more vulnerable their body is and the Abused senior citizens have a 300% higher risk of death. The biggest abusers of physical injuries are caregivers, visiting family member,also other residents. Most of physical abuse in nursing homes is caused by caregivers who mistreat or neglect patients. Some physical abuse is committed intentionally out of frustration. However, most physical abuse happens because nursing homes are usually understaffed and the staff that they have lack sufficient training. Although the abuse and neglect is sometimes unintentional, the effects of that abuse are just as serious and deadly as intentional abuse(NursingHomeAbuseguide.org).caregiver can also not pay attention to drug and forget about patients and the flip side is that a crooked nurse can steal certain medication that need them. Race can play a little role in care some caregivers are racists and will …show more content…
This is a difficult situation to resolve for caregivers, but they have always put the interests of the patient first and do what they can to keep the patient safe. Sometimes family members are more likely to commit elder abuse if the patient has a history of abusing his family.Adult children are often the abusers, and because of the guilt and shame in being abused by one’s own children, the abuse is not reported.Forty percent of cases occur when adult children victimize their parents(. The victimization includes psychological, physical, and financial abuse. Adult children perpetrating elder abuse are more likely to inflict psychological maltreatment than physical or financial abuse. Combining the fact that the baby boomer generation is graying and families typically provide care for aged loved ones, scholars believe that abuse of the elderly is growing. Also, due to the intimate nature of the parent–child relationship, researchers believe that elder parent abuse is one of the most underreported forms of violence.Previous research gives insight into the characteristics of abusers of elderly parents. An adult child abusive toward a parent tends to be financially dependent on the elder. Of adult children abusive to mothers, 77 percent are somewhat or fully financially dependent, and 65 percent are somewhat or entirely dependent for housing. Unemployment rates are higher among abusive adult
Some of these cases of abuse are done in elderly homes by family members. 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 abuse is the intentional use of physical force that results in acute or chronic illness, bodily injury, physical pain, functional impairment, distress, or death (Choi NG & Mayer J. In summary, the rhetorical analysis essay discusses how elder abuse and neglect affect the victims physically, emotionally, and professionally.
Elderly abuse should be a crime that is made into a law. Once someone create the act of abusing an elderly, they should be taken into custody to be taken to jail. Elderly abuse is crucial and people should understand they are human beings. Financial abuse is one of the worst abuses in assisted living facilities. Everythin...
Physical abuse takes many forms including hitting, punching, pulling hair, slapping, grabbing, biting, kicking, breaking bones, bruising, burning, twisting arms, throwing victims against walls and furniture, throwing objects and using weapons. It also includes damaging household goods, killing pets, and denial of human needs, like sleep and nutrition. Assault can be of a life-threatening nature resulting in broken bones, miscarriages and other serious injuries. A substantial proportion of victims are threatened or assaulted with weapons such as knives,
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).
Though elderly abuse occurs in many nursing homes, it is preventable. It is the nursing aide 's responsibility to provide quality and comfortable care, free from abuse. Many people are not aware that there are several other types of abuse in addition to physical abuse and many are not aware of the signs. If abuse should occur, anyone who suspects or witnesses the abuse is responsible for reporting it. Knowing the types of abuse, being aware of the signs, and reporting incidents are all ways to prevent abuse in nursing homes.
Albeit LTC facilities are designed to benefit individuals with disabilities, residents in LTC settings are often victims of unethical practices conducted by healthcare employees. Types of abuse commonly seen in long-term care ranges from withholding food from the individual, overdosing residents with medication to keep them calm, withholding individuals from activities, physically beating or spanking residents, and the list goes on. There are many instances where residents are verbally abused, called names, and profanity is used against the individuals. This type of behavior from health care professionals is unacceptable, and these incidents must be
Now, you can see that Nursing Home abuse is a big problem in America. You might want to get involved in our local program against nursing home abuse. I will leave you with one last statistic, 1 out of every 8 nursing home patients are abused in some way. Wouldn’t you like to help them?
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.
Sengstock, M. C., & Hwalek, M. (1986). Domestic abuse of the elderly: Which cases involve the police? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1(3), 335-349. doi:10.1177/088626086001003006
Recently, AL.com reported that an 86-year-old woman had to be hospitalized due to physical abuse by a nursing home employee. She purportedly hit her forehead on a table, suffering a hematoma, when the worker threw her onto the bed. The woman also required stitches for a cut she sustained when the staff member took the call-button away from her. Unfortunately, this is just one instance of the types of mistreatment that are all too common in nursing homes across the state. There are things that people can do, however, to protect their loved ones from nursing home abuse.
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]
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
There are numerous theories that are used to explain the reasons why elder abuse occurs: the exchange theory, social learning theory, and political economic theory, all of which are briefly described below. First, the exchange theory describes relationships between people based on dependencies that exist—in the case of abuse, this would be between a victim and a perpetrator (Brownell, 1998). The exchange theory is a process of negotiation between both parties where the relationships are formed by the use of cost-benefit analysis. In addition, the exchange theory was created on the idea that social interaction are involved between at least two people that are exchange of rewards and punishments (Brownell, 1998). This may take the form of the reward becoming a value, such as money, that is exchanged for goods and services between the caregiver and elder. Financial abuse is a sample of exchange theory because; the perpetrator wants to use the financial resources from the victim. By that time, the victim feels that she/he has no choice but to continue in a powerless relationship and has to be dependent on the caregiver. This is applied to abuse because the needs that happen between a victim and a perpetrator are based on a value goods such money. In the case of Elder Abuse, the perpetrator benefits from the victim financial assets.