Elder abuse can also occur in institutional settings, especially in long-term care facilities. Abuse can happen to anyone regardless of the person's age, gender, race, religion, or ethnic or cultural background. Every year, hundreds of thousands of adults over the age of 60 are abused, neglected, or financially exploited. Most elder abuse is committed by people you trust, such as family members.
Most Elder Abuse Victims Are Women, While Most Perpetrators Are Men. In general, adult children are often the perpetrators of elder abuse, followed by other family members and spouses. Unfortunately, institutional abuse of elders (i.e., hospitals, nursing homes, and pension and care homes) is also becoming a major concern, especially as more families are unable to provide adequate care for the elderly in the home. Globally, very little is known about elder abuse and how to prevent it, particularly in developing countries.
As the Baby Boomer generation ages and the number of older adults in the United States increases, it will be even more important to be aware of the warning signs of elder abuse. Individual-level characteristics that increase the risk of becoming an abuser include mental illness, substance abuse, and often financial dependence on the victim's abuser. According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, 60% of self-reported elder abuse is verbal, 14% is negligence, and 5-10% is physical. But elder abuse can lead to premature death, damage physical and psychological health, destroy social and family ties, cause devastating financial losses, and more.
The Elder Justice Act (EJA) is federal legislation that addresses elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Elder abuse is an intentional act or lack of action that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult. Elder abuse can occur in many different settings, including nursing homes and centers for the elderly, but most reports of elder abuse occur in the home, according to the Department of Justice. Globally, the number of cases of elder abuse is projected to increase, as many countries have rapidly aging populations.
According to the Department of Justice, elder abuse refers to “a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action, which occurs within any relationship in which there is an expectation of trust that causes harm or distress to an older person. Abandonment of an elderly person by a person who has physical custody of the elderly person or by a person who has assumed responsibility for providing care for the older person. However, current research estimates that approximately 1 to 2 million Americans, age 65 and older, have been abused or neglected by the same people entrusted with their care and protection (National Center on Elder Abuse, 200. Sexual abuse of an elderly person occurs when an offender engages in any type of sexual contact without the person's consent.
Community and social factors related to elder abuse can include age discrimination against older people and certain cultural norms (for example, there are more than 40 million people 65 and older in the United States, and this number is growing rapidly, according to the National Center on Elder). Abuse. However, a review of recent studies on elder abuse in institutional settings (indicates that 64.2% of staff reported having perpetrated some form of abuse in the past year. .
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