More on Elder Abuse
I don’t know whether the issue of elder abuse is just getting more coverage or whether cases of elder abuse are increasing. We all know that elder abuse is a global issue. I ran across a few recent articles about elder abuse that I wanted to share in this post.
First, The Conversation published Why are we abusing our parents? The ugly facts of family violence and ageism . The article opens with the story of Gwen, who was being abused by her son. The article suggests that “[o]lder people experiencing abuse from family members share the same experience as women suffering intimate partner violence in having someone close to them, whom they ought to be able to trust, perniciously erode their sense of safety and wellbeing through excessive use of power and control.” But, when its a child who is the perpetrator, “feelings of parental love and responsibility coupled with shame and guilt for having “failed” as a parent often stop the parent from seeking help and protecting themselves.” Turning to Australia, the article examines the prevalence and frequency of multiple abuses of a victim. “For example, financial abuse was coupled with another form of abuse in 65% of cases.” Linking abuse and ageism, the article offers that “[promoting the dignity and inherent value of older people is a crucial component of elder abuse prevention.” The article calls for educating professionals, elders and society about the issues.
Next, a newspaper in Bend, Oregon ran the story, Financial exploitation hits close. Report: Most financial exploitation done by someone the victim trusts. “A report by Oregon’s Office of Adult Abuse Prevention and Investigations found nearly three-fourths of Central Oregon’s financial-exploitation cases involved someone known or trusted by the victim.” The cases in Oregon are similar to what is happening across the country:”[s]tate investigators recorded 1,059 cases in which people 65 or older, who lived on their own or with a loved a one, were victims of theft or someone had misused their money, medication or property…Financial exploitation for seniors living outside of a long-term care facility was the most common type of elder abuse for the third year running in 2014.”
Finally (but finally only for this post; I have no doubt that there will be more posts on elder abuse, unfortunately) CNBC ran a story on elder abuse with a headline that caused me to do a double-take. Why seniors don’t fear elder financial abuse discusses a new report from Allianz Life that “queried over 1,200 seniors and more than 1,000 people ages 40 to 64 about seniors’ finances and found that among the seniors, 89 percent were confident they could handle their money on their own. At the same time, 22 percent of the younger group said they were not confident in their own ability to recognize elder financial abuse, or were not sure.”
The CNBC story indicates that family members worry more about the elder being a victim than the elder does. “The confidence of the seniors may make them even more vulnerable to financial scams or financial abuse by friends or family members, said Walter White, president and CEO of Allianz Life. …”Everything we understand about the prevalence of the issue would suggest that confidence is misplaced,” he said.” The CNBC story cites some other reports that provide good statistics and discusses the connection between financial exploitation and ultimately a nursing home placement.
That kind of loss can devastate a person’s finances, and elder financial abuse is often a major reason why seniors wind up in nursing homes and assisted living facilities on public assistance. Dr. Mark Lachs, co-chief of the division of geriatrics and gerontology at Weill Medical College, has studied the issue and found that an older person who falls victim to abuse, including financial exploitation, is four times more likely to be placed in a nursing home, after adjusting for other known risk factors for nursing home placement.
Discussing the reasons a victim may fail to report financial exploitation, the story adds overconfidence as a reason, citing to the Allianz report. The CNBC story concludes with some links to resources to help fight elder abuse.
More information about the Allianz report is available here. Allianz also offers a number of materials for elders and professionals available on the Allianz website, here.