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Different types of abuse in the elderly
Conclusion of elder abuse
Different types of abuse in the elderly
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Elderly abuse is an intentional or neglectful act of maltreatment by an individual that results in harm or loss inflicted on an older adult. There are many specific ways a person such as a caregiver, child, or relative can abuse an elderly person. Sometimes a person will be abusive in more than one way, and multiple forms of abuse can occur simultaneously. Providing society the four most common forms of elder abuse known as physical abuse, emotional abuse, financial abuse, and neglect. Unfortunately these types of abuse are inflicted on the elderly more often than we think and sadly there is not enough being done to prevent it. Elderly abuse is a very serious growing problem in our society today that should be more acknowledged. To better …show more content…
It is the most common form of elder abuse because it includes fraud. All other forms of elderly abuse are almost always persecuted by close relatives like a spouse, descendants, or a caregiver for the elder, but with fraud the abuser could be just about anyone from doctors and nurses, to complete strangers and scam artists. Some relatives and custodians steal cash, and household goods while others may forge the elder's signature to access their cards, funds and accounts leading to complete identity theft. However the most devious culprits are the professional health care providers. Some of the most common ways doctors and nurses deceit a senior are charging for health care that has never been provided, and giving wrong prescriptions, over medicating, under medicating just so the senior condition doesn't get better and will have to continue to pay recovery …show more content…
This can be done in verbal ways such as humiliating and elderly person. This type of abuse can have major mood fluctuations attached to them such as depression, anger, anxiety, without the easy to detect physical markings. Some more examples of emotional abuse are ignoring the elder, isolating an elderly person from family, friends, or regular activities, Harassment, name-calling, cursing, humiliating, insulting, or ridiculing, threatening to punish or deprive, using extreme forms of punishment, such as imprisonment to a closet or dark room, or
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).
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.
As you can see, I am not elderly and I have not experienced elder abuse personally, but I am a concerned American. The aging
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.
In recent years, the shameful subject of elder abuse has gained more awareness among community members. In particular, the complexity of elder financial abuse often makes manipulative dealings by fraudsters difficult to identify and separate from actual permissive transactions made by older victims. The result is that these cases are very rarely prosecuted and many other undetected cases continue to fall far below the radar of society. The consequences of financial exploitation of older adults are reaching far beyond the immediate distress of financial depletion. Victims may also experience declines in physical and mental health as well as the risk of a decrease in life expectancy (Kemp & Mosqueda, 2005). The purpose of the following studies is to address the issue of financial exploitation of elder adults through the means of intervention, prosecution, prevention, and correlation between different forms of 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]
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.
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).
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
The type of abuse that elderly people 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 households. This includes a variety of demographics and ethnicities (Meadows, 2010). Anyone may potentially cause abuse and/or neglect.
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...
In order to get a better comprehension of the seriousness and the importance of public health problems in our society, this section addresses three cases describing elder and neglect abuse. The first example concerns financial abuse—the fastest growing area of abuse. There are sadly many people who are looking to take advantage of elders since they are often isolated and perceived as an easy target. According to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (2014), two con men came to an 84-year-old man’s house and expressed to him that his fence needs to be repaired. The victim did not approve any repairs and was unaware any services has been done. But, one of the con man returned days later, stating that he had finished with the fence and demanded a large sum of money. The victim wrote a check for the amount he thought he owed. The con man was later arrested and charged with theft (Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, 2014). This case was an example of financial abuse since the two con men attempted to scam the elderly man out of his money for services that they did not provide.
Emotional Abuse, (also known as: Verbal abuse, mental abuse, and psychological cruelty) includes acts or the failures to act by parents or caretakers that have caused or could cause serious behavioral, cognitive, emotional or mental disorders. This can include parents and/or caretakers using extreme or bizarre forms of punishment, such as the child being confined in a closet or dark room, being tied to a chair for long periods of time, or threatening or terrorizing a young mind. Less severe acts, but no less damaging is overly negative criticism or rejecting treatment, using degrading terms to describe the child, constant victimizing or blaming the child for situations.
To begin with, emotional abuse is a type of abuse that can hurt a child psychologically. The reason why this form of abuse can hurt a child psychologically is because it damage the way a child looks at him or herself. There are many different ways one can emotionally abuse someone. Some of these ways include name calling, degrading a child, or even showing no loving affection at all. Calling a child “worthless” or “stupid” is a form of verbal abuse that is categorized under emotional abuse. Caregivers may also constantly blame the child for things that may not even be their fault. When a parent begins purposely ignore the child as a form of punishment he or she is going to feel like they are not wanted or loved.