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Abuse
According
What is Elder Abuse?
According to the National
Committee for the
Prevention of Elder Abuse,
elder abuse is defined as
any form of mistreatment
that results in harm or loss
to an older person.
Elder abuse falls under the
category of Ageism, which
is a form of discrimination
or prejudice towards older
people.
National Statistics
a specific statistic is
unknown, it is estimated
that about 2.1 million older
Americans become victims
of elder abuse every year.
Types of Elder Abuse
The National Center on
Elder Abuse (NCEA) has
identified six types of elder
abuse ranked from most to
least common in a domestic
setting.
1. Neglect (55%)
2. Physical Abuse (14.6%)
3. Financial and material
exploitation (12.3%)
4. Emotional Abuse (7.7%)
5. Sexual Abuse (<1%)
6. Other types (6.1%)
The Victims
18 percent involved
financial exploitation; 15
percent involved physical
abuse; 11 percent involved
caregiver neglect; and 5
percent involved sexual
abuse.
Utah Statistics
According to the Utah Elder
Abuse Report, during fiscal
year 2004, Adult Protective
Services investigated 2,340
allegations of vulnerable
adult abuse, neglect, and
exploitation. Thirty-three
percent of all confirmed
cases in 2004 involved selfneglect. Another 18 percent
involved emotional abuse;
Personal Experience
I volunteered at Legacy Retirement
helping organize activities for the
residents. I spoke with Barbara
Smith, who is the activities
assistant at Legacy, and I asked
her if shes ever witnessed any type
of elder abuse. She said, Ive
witnessed neglect in my job. Ive
seen too many times, especially
when the holidays roll around, that
Resources
Should you suspect that a family
member or a relative is being
neglected, abused, or exploited,
your first call should be made to
Adult Protective Services (APS).
Utah Hotlines
Elder Abuse:
Domestic/Community
1-800-371-7897 or (801) 264-7669
What We Can Do
As a society we need to focus
on reporting elderly abuse.