Elder abuse is become more and more prevalent within our society and is developing into a serious concern comparable to child abuse and domestic violence. Elderly abuse is when an older adult, generally the age of 60 years old and older, is enduring suffering and direct harm from the actions of others. The rates of elder abuse are incredibly hefty, however, the incidences of abuse are unrated within media and governmental agencies as cases generally do not have criminal action, in which “over a period of 6 months, nine local authorities reported 639 abuse cases… however, just five cases resulted in a criminal prosecution” (2). Regardless of an individual’s age, abuse plays a dramatic role on the mindset and emotional state of the individual
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The main type of abuse is physical abuse. Physical abuse is characterized by being directly attacked by another person, whether that is being hit with their hands or objects, bit, scratching, or pushing. Physical abuse is any negative bodily contact that causes physical pain and distress to the individual. Another form of physical abuse often overlooked is when the older adult is not being properly fed or is in fact being forced into over eating, and also when the elderly adult is not adequately providing any or not enough of prescribed and needed medications for them to take (1) & (2). Warning signs of physical abuse are observing bruises on the person’s face, arms, and legs. However, older adults do have higher prevalence in falling down and may have bruises from those incidences. (4). However, there are apparent warning signs of abuse, such broken or dislocation of bones, sprains, and possibly even cigarette scars. Medical professionals should be aware of marking on the older adult’s body, such as marks on the wrists and ankles where there may be bruises caused from being tied up often, and also if there are bruises on both of the arms then the older adult may experience being shaken by another individual. In addition, there may be more extreme cases in which the older adult is missing teeth, hair is thinning out from stress or decreasing from hair being pulled, and if there is random organ failure as …show more content…
A large-scale study reviewed approximately 284 cases related to differing types of elder abuse that was sent over to law enforcement agencies for further investigation into the claims of abuse. The majority of the claims processed, roughly 260 reports, indicated that women were largely victimized over that of men. The study implied that the risk of potential abuse may be an age-related factor as adults between the ages of 80-90 years showed the greatest rate in incidences, about 34.1%, with the second larger group being between 60-70 years old or 32.8% (CITATION). Of the elders 80% were Caucasian, 14.4%, were African American, other races were 5.6%. An apparent issue observed was that more than half of the individuals reported had a physical disability or cognitive impairment due to dementia-like symptoms. The study also concluded that the large majority of elderly abusers are in fact acted upon by members of the individual’s own family, 72.6%, and the remaining abuse, 22.6%, being demonstrated in mental health and patient care facilities (CITATION). Almost a third, 29.4%, of the cases included documentation indicating that there were highly visible physical injuries and bruises of the patients. In eleven cases the victim was choked, and 11 cases a weapon was used during the assault, and four elderly women died during the assault,
The main type of abuse is physical abuse. Physical abuse is characterized by being directly attacked by another person, whether that is being hit with their hands or objects, bit, scratching, or pushing. Physical abuse is any negative bodily contact that causes physical pain and distress to the individual. Another form of physical abuse often overlooked is when the older adult is not being properly fed or is in fact being forced into over eating, and also when the elderly adult is not adequately providing any or not enough of prescribed and needed medications for them to take (1) & (2). Warning signs of physical abuse are observing bruises on the person’s face, arms, and legs. However, older adults do have higher prevalence in falling down and may have bruises from those incidences. (4). However, there are apparent warning signs of abuse, such broken or dislocation of bones, sprains, and possibly even cigarette scars. Medical professionals should be aware of marking on the older adult’s body, such as marks on the wrists and ankles where there may be bruises caused from being tied up often, and also if there are bruises on both of the arms then the older adult may experience being shaken by another individual. In addition, there may be more extreme cases in which the older adult is missing teeth, hair is thinning out from stress or decreasing from hair being pulled, and if there is random organ failure as …show more content…
A large-scale study reviewed approximately 284 cases related to differing types of elder abuse that was sent over to law enforcement agencies for further investigation into the claims of abuse. The majority of the claims processed, roughly 260 reports, indicated that women were largely victimized over that of men. The study implied that the risk of potential abuse may be an age-related factor as adults between the ages of 80-90 years showed the greatest rate in incidences, about 34.1%, with the second larger group being between 60-70 years old or 32.8% (CITATION). Of the elders 80% were Caucasian, 14.4%, were African American, other races were 5.6%. An apparent issue observed was that more than half of the individuals reported had a physical disability or cognitive impairment due to dementia-like symptoms. The study also concluded that the large majority of elderly abusers are in fact acted upon by members of the individual’s own family, 72.6%, and the remaining abuse, 22.6%, being demonstrated in mental health and patient care facilities (CITATION). Almost a third, 29.4%, of the cases included documentation indicating that there were highly visible physical injuries and bruises of the patients. In eleven cases the victim was choked, and 11 cases a weapon was used during the assault, and four elderly women died during the assault,