Elderly_Abuse

Elderly Abuse The elder in American society occupies a unique social niche. Most have been, and many continue to be, active, involved, and independent individuals. However, due to both disease processes and normal physiological changes, many elders eventually experience what is euphemistically referred to as a “second childhood.” Physically, mentally, and/or emotionally, they become dependent upon others for one or many life activities and decisions. This dependence, usually in combination with one or more other variables, can leave the elder vulnerable to abuse. This paper will provide definitions for the several types of elder abuse. It will also explore the causes of elder abuse, offer suggestions for identifying individuals who are at risk, and delineate reporting requirements and interventions strategies for health care providers. Definitions for abuse are not standardized in the legislation, nor is there complete agreement about what types of abuse exist (Pillemer and Finkelhor, 1988). The five types of abuse most consistently mentioned in some form are physical abuse, emotional abuse, material (or financial) abuse, active neglect, and passive neglect. Godkin, Wolf, and Pillemer provide fairly standard definitions of each (1989). These authors define physical abuse as, “the infliction of physical abuse, elder, elders, 1987, abused, 1989, physical, cases, care, shelton, services, health, found, dependent, caregivers, berg, state, report, provide, powell, neglect, myers, likely, information, godkin, emotional, child, study, significantly, reporting, pillemer, et, compared, al, adult