The Abusive Elder

This first-of-its-kind book undertakes the uncomfortable conversation that so many are unwilling to have - that elder abuse is widespread and very real. This book educates the reader to recognize elder abuse in its early stages before the damage is irreparable. John E. Johnson, a retired lawyer, and Sabby Duthie, a former retirement-home owner, share real stories from families of different generations and backgrounds. Combined with reliable statistics, the result is chilling evidence that elder abuse exists in every facet of our senior citizens' lives. The stories shared in this book encompass every level of contact, including doctors, lawyers, financial advisors, family members, social workers, and the frontline workers at both retirement homes and long-term care centres.The book is an easy read for such a difficult subject. It encourages us to have the conversation respectfully and lovingly to ensure that our loved ones know they have a right to live free of abuse. We all have a role to play in the resolution.

Since the late 1970s when Congressman Claude Pepper held widely publicized hearings on the mistreatment of the elderly, policy makers and practitioners have sought ways to protect older Americans from physical, psychological, and financial abuse. Yet, during the last 20 years fewer than 50 articles have addressed the shameful problem that abusersâ€"and sometimes the abused themselvesâ€"want to conceal. Elder Mistreatment in an Aging America takes a giant step toward broadening our understanding of the mistreatment of the elderly and recommends specific research and funding strategies that can be used to deepen it. The book includes a discussion of the conceptual, methodological, and logistical issues needed to create a solid research base as well as the ethical concerns that must be considered when working with older subjects. It also looks at problems in determination of a report's reliability and the role of physicians, EMTs, and others who are among the first to recognize situations of mistreatment. Elder Mistreatment in an Aging America will be of interest to anyone concerned about the elderly and ways to intervene when abuse is suspected, including family members, caregivers, and advocates for the elderly. It will also be of interest to researchers, research sponsors, and policy makers who need to know how to advance our knowledge of this problem.

This book provides a global comprehensive and systematic state-of-the review of this field that fills the gaps between research, practice, and policy. The book addresses the epidemiology of the issue and the global prevalence of elder abuse in both developed and developing countries, which synthesizes the most up-to-date data about risk factors and protective factors associated with elder abuse and consequences of elder abuse; clinical assessment and management of elder abuse, including screening, detection, management of elder abuse, and the role of decision making capacity and forensic approaches; practice and services that describe adult protective services, legal justice, elder court systems, and guardianship system; elder abuse and culture, which provides more in-depth anthropological and ethnographic experiences; policy issues, which highlights the elder justice movement, GAO reports, elder justice act, older American act and elder justice coordinating council; and future directions, which explores translational research, practice, education/training and policy issues surrounding elder abuse. Elder Abuse: Research, Practice and Policy is a useful resource for aging researchers, social services, general internists, family medicine physicians, social workers, nurses, and legal professionals interested in the issues of elder abuse.

This large-print Canadian booklet provides brief information about elder abuse: who does it and why, how to determine abuse, why older people are reluctant to report it, and what can be done about it.

Elder Abuse and Its Prevention is the summary of a workshop convened in April 2013 by the Institute of Medicine's Forum on Global Violence Prevention. Using an ecological framework, this workshop explored the burden of elder abuse around the world, focusing on its impacts on individuals, families, communities, and societies. Additionally, the workshop addressed occurrences and co-occurrences of different types of abuse, including physical, sexual, emotional, and financial, as well as neglect. The ultimate objective was to illuminate promising global and multisectoral evidence-based approaches to the prevention of elder maltreatment. While the workshop covered scope and prevalence and unique characteristics of abuse, the intention was to move beyond what is known about elder abuse to foster discussions about how to improve prevention, intervention, and mitigation of the victims' needs, particularly through collaborative efforts. The workshop discussions included innovative intervention models and opportunities for prevention across sectors and settings. Violence and related forms of abuse against elders is a global public health and human rights problem with far-reaching consequences, resulting in increased death, disability, and exploitation with collateral effects on well-being. Data suggest that at least 10 percent of elders in the United States are victims of elder maltreatment every year. In low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of violence is the greatest, the figure is likely even higher. In addition, elders experiencing risk factors such as diminishing cognitive function, caregiver dependence, and social isolation are more vulnerable to maltreatment and underreporting. As the world population of adults aged 65 and older continues to grow, the implications of elder maltreatment for health care, social welfare, justice, and financial systems are great. However, despite the magnitude of global elder maltreatment, it has been an underappreciated public health problem. Elder Abuse and Its Prevention discusses the prevalence and characteristics of elder abuse around the world, risk factors for abuse and potential adverse health outcomes, and contextually specific factors, such as culture and the role of the community.

This first-of-its-kind work on elder abuse and mistreatment provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the subject. Covering almost all regions of the world, it highlights different dimensions of elder abuse and mistreatment in terms of their prevalence, incidence, prevention, treatment, management and response from governments and civil society, academic and research communities, and society in general. Written by international specialists from various disciplinary and presenting the latest findings and data, the handbook includes sections on the Americas; the Caribbean; Europe; Central, West and South Asia; East Asia and Asia-Pacific; and Africa. The chapters offer clarity on the concept and forms of elder abuse and neglect, discuss research methodology, and provide policy options, legislative solutions and programmatic responses to give relief to older people as victims of abuse and neglect as well as to deal with the perpetrators. This book is intended for a wide range of students and researchers interested in aging, from sociology, to social work, community medicine, public health, clinical psychology, and human rights/law.

Elder Abuse: Forensic, Legal and Medical Aspects focuses on the psychological, financial and physical abuse and neglect that is widespread in elder abuse across socioeconomic levels. It provides expert information on forensic and legal topics that professionals need to understand to confront these crimes. The topics included are those most important in the detection and prosecution of elder abuse. Identification and epidemiology are discussed, as are types and presentations of abuse. Written at a level for both professionals and students who wish to gain a broader understanding of specific forensic topics in elder maltreatment, this book is an ideal source. Covers the physical, sexual, financial and psychological types of elder abuse Includes a section on domestic violence in the elderly, as well as wound identification Provides a multidisciplinary approach that is emphasized with special sections on death investigation, evidence collection, the medical examiner’s responsibilities, and the response of the justice system

This book examines and analyses the experiences of older people as both victims and perpetrators of crime. Drawing upon a wealth of research from British and North American sources, the authors detail the historical experience of the elderly as victims, the extent of present-day criminal victimisation in the home and institutions, the social theories which attempt to explain that experience, and the types of resolution available. The book also addresses the experiences of elderly people in the criminal justice process - the offences to which they are prone, and the implications for penal policy of an increase in the elderly penal population. Crime, Abuse and the Elderly breaks new ground in its focus on the experiences of elderly people as criminal victims in private space, its insistence on a proper engagement of criminology with crimes involving older people, and in its argument that much so-called abuse can be explained criminologically and should be dealt with by the criminal justice system rather than by treatment and welfare agencies. It will be essential reading for students, academics and professionals concerned with the experiences of the elderly.