Our Chicago nursing home neglect lawyers have seen many cases of absolutely heart wrenching abuse and neglect of the elderly. We have seen this mistreatment occur in a wide range of locations, at private nursing homes, non-profit homes, halfway houses, and the senior’s own home. While some locations are more prone to mistreatment, the risk of facing extreme elder neglect exists virtually everywhere. In general, one would expect that the risk would be lowest when an elderly community member is cared for by their own relatives. However, as a horrific case discussed in the Las Cruces Sun News this week reveals, even relatives are capable of neglect. Considering that a large percentage of seniors are cared for by their relatives, there is actually much more elder abuse at the hands of supposed loved ones than most might expect.
According to the story, a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter have been charged with criminal neglect of an 86-year old woman who died of pneumonia last December. According to documents filed with the court, it seems that the senior was essentially left to rot while her step-daughter and granddaughter used money that was supposed to be spent on her care. The senior neglect was brought to the attention of authorities more than a week before the woman’s death. Law enforcement officers went to check on the woman and were amazed and horrified by what they found. The senior was bound into a medical bed that was placed in a living room trailer. The condition of the trailer was apparently filthy with urine and garbage throughout the area.
The senior, who was unable to move, was stuck in the bed in a diaper. There were holes in the trailer, which meant that animals were able to enter and leave the home at will. The family lived near a chicken farm and so rats and stray cats were often found in the location. When authorities investigated the neglect complaint they found that the senior’s toes had been eaten off entirely by those stray animals. By the time authorities got there, all of the victim’s blood had already left her lower extremities. All of this occurred while she was still alive and stuck in the trailer.
Our Chicago elder abuse attorneys remain disgusted that this sort of care can be provided by relatives. When interviewed about the situation afterwards the victim’s daughter-in-law explained that her mother-in-law did not have much feeling in her lower extremities and so she wasn’t sure if she felt the bites. Officials are not so sure and they admit that it is unclear exactly what the woman went through as she was attacked by animals without anyone there to help her.
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Friday was a big day for Barbara White: She turned 100 years old but she also became an honorary sheriff’s deputy.
Keeping her young at heart is her 87-year-old boyfriend, Floyd Runyan. And while talking to KATU News, she asked: “Do you know what a cougar is?” Then answering her own question: “A cougar is a woman who goes with a younger man. So I’m an old cougar.”
“I think this gal really is extraordinary,” said Runyan.
She sure is. During what she thought was just going to be her birthday party, White was awarded the title of honorary sheriff’s deputy by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
At 87, she survived being assaulted, kidnapped and robbed.
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Officials ask people to be aware of elder abuse, protection from cons and scams
The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that between one and two million elderly adults have suffered some form of elder abuse, Crow Wing County reported.
The main types of elder abuse are physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional and psychological abuse, neglect and self-neglect, abandonment and financial exploitation.
Tips for protection, include:
• Maintain social contacts and keep in touch with friends who are concerned about your well being.
Openly talk to a caregiver or supportive friend about how you are feeling or if you feel you have been mistreated. Staying in touch with friends and family and making new friends is an important part of a good social network, the center reported. Studies have shown that caregiver abuse and neglect of the elderly by their caregivers is a major concern. If you are a caregiver “don’t try to do it all alone.” It’s important to take breaks and enlist friends and family to provide some assistance. Crow Wing County offers services to help caregivers and the cost is often based on ability to pay or covered by the care receiver’s insurance. Examples of such services: Adult Day centers, home health aides, home delivered meals, respite care, and skilled nursing.
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A study of elder financial abuse and exploitation found family, friends and neighbors were the perpetrators in 45 percent of the cases, a U.S. researcher says.
Karen A. Roberto, director of the Center for Gerontology at Virginia Tech, found of the 1,128 news articles on elder abuse published from November 2010 through January 2011, 31 percent dealt with abuse of a financial nature — the largest amounts involving family and friends.
“Our findings support what service providers have long suspected, older adults are particularly vulnerable to financial abuse during the holidays,” Roberto said in a statement. “This might be due to the increase in the frequency of visitors in- and-out of their homes, money flowing more freely, and distractions that take them out of their normal routines.”
The study determined older Americans are losing $2.9 billion annually to elder financial abuse, a 12 percent increase from the $2.6 billion estimated in 2008.
“A trend, that perhaps is a reflection of the state of the economy,” Roberto said.
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In New York State, over 260,000 seniors were victimized in 2008-2009. As Baby Boomers age, the problem is likely to get worse.
Every year in the United States, thousands of elderly people are targets of fraud—in the worst cases leaving them homeless and impoverished after losing a lifetime’s worth of savings.
Professionals have a name for it: elder abuse.
And as the massive “boomer generation” approaches their 60s and 70s, the problem is likely to increase geometrically as millions of elderly Americans face challenges ranging from financial exploitation to outright physical abuse and neglect.
Advocates say that the country is ill-prepared for this “Age Wave.”
“[Its] coming at a time when the programs that exist to address elder abuse have either been cut or have remained stagnant for 30-plus years,” says Art Mason, program director of Elder Abuse Prevention, for LifeSpan of Greater Rochester, Inc., in New York.
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As a home care provider for the past three years, I have recently seen an alarming increase in the number of cases of elder financial abuse. Phone calls from family and friends of older adults urge me to help protect their loved ones after they have discovered their loved ones were victims of financial abuse.
It is important to set up safety nets so that such abuse does not happen again.
The majority of these crimes against older adults are committed by family members, friends and caregivers. The Institute of Aging describes elder financial abuse as “taking, secreting or appropriating money or property of an elder or dependent adult by a person who has the care or custody of, or who stands in a position of trust to, that elder or dependent adult.”
The National Council on Aging estimates the yearly financial toll of elder abuse to be nearly $3 billion, including misappropriation of funds, forgery of records, overcharging for nursing home/residential care facility services and falsely reporting therapeutic services for which payment could be rendered.
Older people should be wary of friends, relatives or caregivers who express unusual interest in their financial affairs. However, it is sometimes helpful to choose a trusted family member or friend to disclose financial matters and thwart possible abuse.
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Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) is investigating the 1,760 cases of elder abuse, with 477 of these reported in 2011. As there is no dedicated elder abuse officer in the southern region of Ireland the authority believe this figure is likely to be higher.
In the Executive’s annual elder abuse report, to be published next week, they will reveal that there were 2,046 referrals in 2010, which was up from 1,870 in 2009. It will show that neglect and financial abuse claims have risen by 14 percent and nine percent respectively.
This week in Ireland a high profile case, with relation to the takeover of the Rostreavor nursing home, in South Dublin, has grabbed media attention. The home’s owners have failed to overturn the court’s decision that the HSE should take control.
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Each year in Maryland, officials receive over 8,000 reports of elder abuse. The actual number of abuse victims may be much higher. It is estimated that only 1 in 14 cases of elder and vulnerable adult abuse is reported because of fear and isolation. As elders become frail, they are less able to defend themselves both physically and mentally. They may not see or hear as well or think as clearly as they used to, leaving openings for unscrupulous people to take advantage of them. Mental or physical ailments may make them more trying companions for the people who live with them.
June 15, 2011 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, a time to raise awareness and educate the public about this growing problem. Raising awareness is a fundamental prevention strategy that not only teaches new information but also helps to change attitudes and behavior.
Abuse of elders takes many different forms, some involving intimidation or threats against the elderly, some involving neglect, and others involving financial trickery. The most common types of abuse are physical, emotional, sexual, neglect or abandonment by caregivers, financial exploitation, and health care fraud. Warning signs of some kind of elder abuse may include frequent arguments or tension between the caregiver and the elderly person and changes in personality or behavior in the elder.
Under the law any health practitioner, police officer, or human service worker who has reason to believe that a vulnerable adult is in danger is required to report that fact to the local department of social services. A toll free abuse hotline 1-800-91prevent (1-800-917-7383) is available. Any concerned person may also call the number and file a report.
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The HSE receives over 2,000 referrals to its elder abuse service each year, the annual meeting of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) has been told.
However, Oonagh McAteer, an elder abuse officer with the HSE, said it was felt that elder abuse was hugely under-reported and the yearly incidence of abuse could be five times this number.
She said there had been 2,110 referrals of cases of suspected elder abuse made to the HSE last year. In 70% of cases the elderly people involved have been over 75.
Ms McAteer told the meeting in Galway that 30% of cases were psychological abuse, followed by neglect and financial abuse at just under 20%, followed by physical abuse at 12%.
She said there was a misperception that elder abuse was mainly happening in nursing homes. However, HSE data showed that 82% of abuse victims were living at home and 95% of abuse was alleged to have occurred in a person’s place of residence.
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It’s a crime that reaches into thousands of homes… maybe yours… and often… people aren’t even aware of it.
How bad is elderly abuse? Here are some numbers that demonstrate the problem.
More than 56 thousand Texans who are older than 65 were victims of abuse, neglect or exploitation in 2010.
About a thousand of those Senior Citizens were victims who lived in Jefferson County.
Dozens of people walked through downtown Beaumont…they held signs & chanted… to make people aware of the victims of elderly abuse.
“I think we made enough noises down the street we got people’s attention,” said Angella Holland.
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International Forum on Sexual Safety of Older Women
A Human Rights Approach
Venue: Grand Ballroom, University of Toronto, 89 Chestnut Conference Centre
89 Chestnut Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1R1
Program Times: 08:30 to 18:00
Reception: 18:00 to 19:30
On the 15th of June 2011 Toronto will give focus to an under-reported, silent and insidious form of abuse – the sexual abuse of older women. Historically, older people have never been considered potential or actual targets of sexual assault and as a result have been under-identified and under-served as victims. With the insufficient knowledge and awareness of this form of elder abuse, the most effective strategy to serve older victims of sexual assault is to bring together professionals in victim’s services and in the aging fields to shed light on this issue.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Government, NGO’s, elder abuse prevention networks, crime and victim services, health care providers, residential care providers, legal services, social worker networks, and the media.
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Seniors can be the victims of bullying too.
During a call-in to the Beacon Journal in November to address issues of bullying, the majority of calls were from senior citizens who told the counselors answering telephones that their children or caregivers had hidden agendas.
There are cases of extreme cruelty to the elderly. In 2002, a Ravenna health-care worker, Michele Lee Cramer, recruited her teenage daughter to kill a patient in an attempt to collect the 79-year-old woman’s estate.
According to the American Psychological Association, an estimated 2.1 million older Americans are victims of physical, psychological, or other forms of abuse and neglect each year.
Actor Mickey Rooney has been doing his part to bring the issue of elder abuse to the public. The 90-year-old appeared before the Senate Special Committee on Aging last month and testified that he has been a victim of bullying by a family member.
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