Emotional abuse is the most common type of elder abuse, according to data from the World Health organization (WHO). The WHO found that one out of three of nursing home residents or their families reported cases of emotional nursing home abuse.
Whether intentional or not, abuse may occur as a result of ignorance surrounding the aging process and the needs of elderly people. Abuse and Neglect can result from the false negative stereotype of older adults having no useful role, combined with non-acceptance of the increasing dependence that can accompany old age.
Who are the abusers of older adults? Abusers are both women and men. In almost 60% of elder abuse and neglect incidents, the perpetrator is a family member. Two thirds of perpetrators are adult children or spouses.
Psychological abuse is the second most common form of elder abuse after neglect. It often consists of purposeful verbal or nonverbal infliction of emotional or mental anguish.
Financial fraud is the fastest-growing form of elder abuse. Broadly defined, financial elder abuse is when someone illegally or improperly uses a vulnerable senior's money or other property.
Neglect is the most common form of child abuse. Physical abuse may include beating, shaking, burning, and biting. The threshold for defining corporal punishment as abuse is unclear. Rib fractures are found to be the most common finding associated with physical abuse.
Elder abuse most often takes place in the home where the senior lives. It can also happen in institutional settings, especially long-term care facilities. It is estimated that more than 1 in 10 older adults experience some form of abuse.
Traditionally, the “elderly” are considered to be those persons age 65 and older.
Examples include humiliation or disrespect, verbal and non-verbal threats, harassment, and geographic or interpersonal isolation. Neglect is the failure to meet an older adult's basic needs. These needs include food, water, shelter, clothing, hygiene, and essential medical care.
Consequences. Abuse of older people can have serious physical and mental health, financial, and social consequences, including, for instance, physical injuries, premature mortality, depression, cognitive decline, financial devastation and placement in nursing homes.
Alcohol or drug abuse, intoxication, and substance withdrawal are the leading predictors of abusive behavior. Substance-dependent caregivers may attempt to use or sell drugs prescribed to the older person, depriving the person of treatment.
Find your local APS . If there is an urgent risk of harm to your loved one or someone else, you should call 911 right away. Otherwise, you can call the non-emergency number for your local police or Sheriff's office to file a report. Some state laws define elder financial abuse as a specific type of crime.
Burglary, robbery, and fraud are the crimes most frequently committted against the elderly. Older individuals placed in extended care facilities may be physically abused or defrauded of personal possessions by staff members.
Emotional abuse, sometimes called psychological abuse, can include a caregiver saying hurtful words, yelling, threatening, or repeatedly ignoring the older adult. Keeping that person from seeing close friends and relatives is another form of emotional abuse.
Emotional or psychological abuse
Emotional abuse often coexists with other forms of abuse, and it is the most difficult to identify. Many of its potential consequences, such as learning and speech problems and delays in physical development, can also occur in children who are not being emotionally abused.
The U.S. Justice Department notes that caregiver neglect is the most unreported type of abuse, with 1 out of every 57 cases being reported. Neglect is also one of the most common types of elder abuse.
Physical abuse is one of the first forms of violence people think of when they hear the words domestic violence. Physical abuse is slightly easier to recognize because it is harder to disguise, and often more overt than emotional abuse.