Elder Abuse Research

Elderly abuse made its first appearance in national scene in the late 1970s. However, the proper efforts to help vulnerable elders began at least two decades before the 1070s. This is when protective

Elder Abuse: The Crime of the Twenty-First Century? - Research on Aging MAY 5, 2014 University of California Television (UCTV) Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Abuse of the elderly occurs in the home and in institutional settings such as nursing homes. The home is the principal site of care for most older people. The abuser can be any person in a position of authority or family member. Perpetrators of abuse in the home are commonly adult children, spouses or paid care workers (Heath and Schofield 1999). Often long-term caregiving relationships can lead family members or staff to ‘burn out’ and abuse may be an unfortunate consequence (Mauk, 2006). In institutional care settings such as residential and nursing homes staff are often over worked, have

There are many broad and different definitions of elder abuse, and different forms and ways to deal with it. Elder abuse consists of “intentional or neglectful acts of a caregiver, family member, friend, or other individuals that lead to, or may lead to, harm of a senior citizen” (Elder Abuse Facts, 2016). One of the biggest problems we face when looking at this policy is that elder harm and abuse can happen practically anywhere. Elder abuse can happen in a private setting; in their own homes committed by their own family members (Help Guide, 2014, p.1). But it can also happen in a care center, with lots of people living in close proximity to them.

Elder mistreatment is unrecognized, hidden, and underreported. Studies showed that nurses among health professionals are largely unaware of the various forms of elder mistreatment that take place and of the proper course of action to pursue when mistreatment is suspected Falk, Baigis, and Kopac(2012). People should be aware of the many faces of elder maltreatment, and all health caregivers working with older adults need to recognize, treat, and prevent elder abuse and neglect (Daly, et al., 2012).

In research, the concept of validity refers to the accuracy or truth of the research study (Cozby & Bates, 2012). Furthermore, there are three important types of validity, which include external, internal, and construct validity (Cozby & Bates, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to prepare a validity paper based on the prevalence of elder abuse in selected Ohio nursing homes and what, if any, consequences the nursing homes encounter.

In addition, no harm will be done to any residents in the selected Ohio nursing homes because, only prior court cases will be evaluated, and nursing home administrators and local authorities will be surveyed for this research topic in order, to determine the consequences nursing homes encounter and the effectiveness of current laws and policies. Overall, elder abuse is a violation of the elderly person's fundamental rights to be safe and live from violence (Greenlee, 2012). As a result, the elderly population will benefit from the envisioned research topic that is aimed to help shed light on the prevalence of elder abuse found in nursing homes and whether or not the current policies and laws are effective to prevent elder abuse cases from occurring in nursing

As Americans live longer, it is no surprise that the population of older adults has increased; consequently so has the ubiquitous problem of elder abuse. In the United States elder abuse is an exceedingly, overlooked public health hazard; which covers a wide range of abuses. Approximately 2 million adults, over the age of 60 are abused or mistreated each year. ("Elder Justice: A John A. Hartford Foundation Change AGEnts Issue Brief", 2016) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has defined elder abuse as "an intentional act, or failure to act, by a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult, age 60 and older” (“Elder Abuse: Definitions”, 2016) Studies show a vast majority of health care professionals underestimate the occurrence of elder

An estimated twenty-one percent of nursing home residents are neglected at least once in the past twelve months and more than twenty-four percent are abused at least once during their entire stay (Schub & Kornusky, 2014). In a study of 718 family members and others responsible for those ages 60 and older receiving long-term care in a nursing home, an assisted living facility or paid homecare, nearly 30 percent reported at least one instance of elder abuse in the past year. Neglect was the most common form and sexual abuse the least (Anetzberger, 2012).

Elder mistreatment is a serious problem in America, yet it often overlooked. Elder abuse is defined as abuse in older adults that includes, but isn’t limited to physical, emotional, financial or sexual abuse. It is a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm. It is often misunderstood and dismissed as just a family matter when in fact, that is the least common source of cruelty amongst the elders. According to the National council of aging, 1 in 10 Americans aged 60 and older have experienced some form of abuse. Some estimates range as high as 5 million elders who are reportedly abused yearly.

Elders in the United States should not have to go through situations of abuse like the one Mildred Mortenson suffered. However, this type of situations happen more often than they should and sadly, there is not enough being done to prevent it. Elder abuse should be recognized as an increasing and very serious problem in our society. As elders grow more physically frail and begin to depend on others to meet their basic needs, they tend to become vulnerable to intentional abuse and neglect within their own home as well as assisted living facilities such as nursing homes. Unfortunately, it is not possible to know exactly how many elders are being abused across the Nation. Due to under-reporting, variations in the definition of elder abuse,

Elder abuse includes physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as neglect, exploitation and abandonment of our older generation (Falk, 2012). The people that cause these injuries include the elderly person’s own family and staff members of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, medical rehabilitation facilities and hospitals (NCOA, 2017). There is approximately 1 in 10 older adults that have experienced some type of elder abuse in the United States (NCOA, 2017). Within these staggering numbers, only 1

The addition of the Elder Justice Act brings some hope for long-term attention to the issue of elder abuse. This country is extremely unprepared for the magnitude of issues that will erupt with the growth of the older population. Healthcare services, community-based and home-based services, and long-term care facilities are going to be seriously taxed over the next 20 years. It is necessary to address elder abuse prevention, education, and intervention thoroughly in the short-term while considerations are somewhat manageable. As stated by Greenlee (2012), “This is not solely a federal issue, this is a national crisis” (p. 8). If we consider the protection of older adults as a national responsibility, it is clear that advocacy and

Abuse can happen to anyone, but elderly adults residing in nursing homes are more vulnerable and have a higher risk for abuse (Rasansky Law Firm, 2006, para. 1). Elders are among the fastest growing in the population, and because of this many more elderly

Across groups the authors point out participants’ perception and beliefs about elder abuse, and what constitutes elder abuse is traditional by culture and individual preferences (Enguidanos et al., 2014). Furthermore, participants including African American older adults in this study identified elder abuse as a result of imitate partner violence, moving into old age as oppose to separate form of violence, exclusive to vulnerable elders; adult children were identified as perpetrators, because of dependency and impairment, financial abuse, and exploitation with property transfer however, they were reluctant to report family members and acceptance of avoiding nursing home facilities (Enguidanos et al., 2014).