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Essay on risk factors for elder abuse
Causes and impact of emotional, financial and physical abuse of the elderly
Essay on risk factors for elder abuse
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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.
Financial Abuse and Those at Risk.
As noted by Statistics Canada (2013), the number of older adults will more than triple by 2031, thus the number of cases of elder abuse will likely increase in alignment. With this notion in mind, it seems ostensive that nurses must develop a decent understanding of what it entails, including identification of those who may be most vulnerable. Financial abuse involves the unauthorized use and or procurement of an older adults wealth (Gibson & Honn Qualls, 2012, p. 26). It is interesting to not...
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Knowles, M., & Campbell, A. (2013). Financial abuse in care homes: do you know what to look out for? Nursing and Residential Care, 15, 294-296. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2012085748&site=ehost-live
Statistics Canada. (2013). National seniors day... by the numbers. Retrieved from http://www42.statcan.gc.ca/smr08/2013/smr08_178_2013-eng.htm
Swan, A. (2007). Give consideration to financial abuse among the older population. British Journal of Community Nursing, 12, 474-476. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2009697435&site=ehost-live
Touhy, T. A., Jett, K. F., Boscart, V., & McCleary, L. (2012). Ebersole and hess’ gerontological nursing & healthy aging (1st ed.). Toronto, ON: Elsevier Canada.
Touhy, T. A., & Jett, K. (2012). Toward healthy aging: Human needs & nursing response (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier/Mosby.
Touhy, T. A., Jett, K. F., Boscart, V., & McCleary, L. (october 2011). Ebersole and Hess Gerontological Nursing and Healthy Aging (1st canadian edition ed.). Retrieved from
There have been problems within Long-Term Care and many of these abuses were turned over to the patients, there was hardly any direction on how to handle Long-Term Care. “Poor houses and Almshouses and developed in response to an impoverished, aging, and mentally and physically disabled population who lacked informal caregivers.” (Sarah Thompson, 2008 ) When Long-Term Care was in the infancy stage of developing there were many problems, issues that were created because there was not much direction. In developing in taking care of the elderly there were poorly trained nurses, medical workers and many of them were not qualified to work within the medical field. There were problems, many issues and multiple levels of abuse because of poorly trained medical workers where there was no direction.
Loiselle, C. G., Profetto-McGrath, J., Polit, D. F., Beck C. T., (2007). Canadian essentials of nursing research (2nd ed.) Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Houde, S., & Melillo, K. (2009). Caring for an aging population. Journal Of Gerontological Nursing, 35(12), 9-13. doi:10.3928/00989134-20091103-04
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.
Kemp, B. J., & Mosqueda, L. A. (2005). Elder Financial Abuse: An Evaluation Framework and Supporting Evidence. Journal Of The American Geriatrics Society, 53(7), 1123-1127. doi:10.1111/j.l532-5415.2005.53353.x
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]
Darby, S. Marr, J. Crump, A Scurfield, M (1999) Older People, Nursing & Mental Health. Oxford: Buterworth-Heinemann.
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.
Nursing Home Abuse With over 1.5 million elderly and dependent adults now living in nursing homes throughout the country, abuse and neglect has become a widespread problem. Even though some nursing homes provide good care, many are subjecting helpless residents to needless suffering and death. Most residents in nursing homes are dependent on the staff for most or all their needs such as food, water, medicine, toileting, grooming- almost all their daily care. Unfortunately, many residents in nursing homes today are starved, dehydrated, over-medicated, and suffer painful pressure sores. They are often isolated, ignored, and deprived of social contact and stimulation.
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
This essay will start by explaining what is elder abuse and the different types of abuse and the kinds of patterns that exist. It will acknowledge the positions that elder people can be in that make them vulnerable in society and the dangers of these. It will also look at the report of protecting our future 2002 and looks at their responsibilities and how ways they help prevent elder abuse. Then in turn it will explain the policy developments since the publication of the protecting our future 2002 and recommendations that need to be implemented to ensure the prevention of elder abuse of the review 2009. It also will state some of the actions following the report and how efficient that is on how to prevent elder abuse.
Miller, Carol A. (2012). Nursing for Wellness in Older Adults. (sixth edition). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Kick, Ella. "Overview: Health Care and the Aging Population: What Are Today's Challenges?" The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. N.p., n.d. Web.