Elder Abuse – The Common and Not so Common Signs
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is June 15. As this important day nears, I am reminded of a call I received one day from a friend. My friend’s father had reduced cognitive ability and was living in a care facility. There was a concern that his finances were being taken advantage of. The concern was not unfounded. The complication in this, and in many elder abuse cases, is that sometimes the source of the abuse is what or where we least expect. We trust care facilities, family members, and religious organizations but sometimes individuals within those settings abuse the trust and target vulnerable seniors.
It’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to abuse a senior, but the issue is – sadly – widespread. Statistically, in Alberta more than 20,000 seniors experience one or more forms of abuse. The forms are varied and include both internal and external factors such as:
- Physical abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Emotional or psychological abuse
- Neglect
- Abandonment
- Financial abuse
- Self-neglect
Self-neglect is important to note as it can be an issue on its own (self-abuse) or a result of other abusive factors (senior becomes depressed in a situation and engages in neglect or self harm).
Sometimes the abuse is unintentional. For example provincial cognitive tests mean well, but their open-to-interpretation results can strip seniors of their rights, and opens up the entire process to easy exploitation.
Another growing form of elder abuse comes from an increasingly impatient generation who bank on retirement and financial security through an inheritance. What many don’t realize is that the inheritance may not be as much – or at all – what they expect, and may not come as early as they need it. Sometimes waiting for the financial windfalls leads to “inheritance impatience,” where the cognitive senior suddenly finds their children or grandchildren pressuring them to change the will, pay for vacations or homes, or to release trust funds early. At worst, the senior is mysteriously deemed incompetent, their finances are taken over, and they are removed from their home and shuffled off to a facility.
Other forms of abuse that are easy to overlook is when a parent or grandparent is pressured to move into their adult child’s home and then finds themselves being responsible for the family’s meals, childcare, and cleaning. This may not always feel like abuse to one of the involved parties, but if taken too far, it can feel like it to the older adults.
Elder abuse it not always immediately apparent. It is complicated, especially when the abuser is a family member or a trusted organization. The senior may have diminished capacity or feel embarrassed to ask for help. No matter the circumstances senior abuse is never okay, and it is never justified.
The bottom line is this: ask yourself, “is this how I would want to be treated” when making decisions with/for a senior or evaluating an issue they are having with someone else. Seniors deserve to be treated with respect at home, in a care facility, while out shopping, at banks, when donating to charity, when with their family – at all times.
This World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, challenge yourself to learn more about the signs of abuse and what you can do to prevent it. Use the hashtag #weaad in your discussions on social media to help raise awareness.
Watch Dawn on CTV News Edmonton