September 28, 2015
How to Detect Elder Abuse
Would you be able to tell the difference between a bruise caused by an innocent bump into furniture, or abuse in an older adult? What if it were a 3-year-old child? How quickly would you report the life-threatening problem?
Elder abuse is a complex and troubling trend. Previous research suggests the prevalence of elder abuse ranges between 5 and 30 percent. However, research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that 1 in every 10 older adults falls prey to some kind of abuse that's either physical, psychological, sexual, financial or neglectful in nature.
What's more, a 2010 U.S. Government Accountability Office report estimated that 14.1 percent of non-institutionalized older adults experienced physical, psychological or sexual abuse, neglect or financial exploitation.
Despite these numbers, experts at this year's White House Conference on Aging said that only 1 in 23 cases of abuse is actually reported, according to a May 2015 Elder Justice Policy Brief.
"Not enough attention has been drawn to the issue," says Edwin Walker, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging of the Administration on Aging within the Administration of Community Living. "We know it's been a silent issue, and people don't talk about it."
What Are the Warning Signs?
Unfortunately, abusers aren't always easy to identify, says Dr. Lisa Gibbs, medical director of SeniorHealth Center, chief of geriatric medicine and director of the Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse and Neglect at the University of California, Irvine.
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