As people advance in age, they become prone to abuse and neglect because they can no longer care for themselves. Elderly abuse and neglect are a common problem in the world as family members and nursing institutions inflict physical, emotional, or sexual abuse on older people. Abuse and neglect cause adverse physical and mental health problems. There are several types of elderly abuse including the intentional use of force resulting in pain and injury. Additionally, caregivers may inflict emotional abuse on the elderly by intimidating them through verbal abuse and threats, isolating them from the social world, and humiliating them. Neglect is another form of elderly abuse: intentional or unintentional failure to provide necessary care for older adults. Lastly, older people may encounter financial exploitation in a scenario where the caregivers use their money and properties without their authorization. The elderly abuse and neglect is a complex issue in society.
Prevalence of Elderly Abuse and Neglect
Elderly abuse and neglect are a global problem. A study conducted by WHO in 2017 concluded that about 15.7% of people aged sixty years and above face some form of abuse (Storey, 2020). However, WHO further suggested that these statistics could be underestimated because many cases of elderly abuse are unreported. Due to increased technological advancement, which contributes to better healthcare services, the elderly population is growing globally thus, increasing the cases of abuse and neglect because of limited resources. Based on the existing research, some types of elderly abuse are more prevalent than others.
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Emotional abuse is the most prevalent type. It constitutes 25.7% of all the reported abuse cases ( Peshevska et al, 2014). This form of abuse causes distress and mental issues for the victim because they are mostly yelled at and insulted. Consequently, the victims may develop adverse mental problems like anxiety and depression. Furthermore, it is one of the most dangerous forms of abuse because it is not easily identified. The visible evidence is always absent, unlike in physical abuse, where injuries are easily noticeable. As a result, the victims may be subjected to emotional abuse for long and people around them fails to notice. Financial abuse is also common and it constitutes about 11.9% of the reported cases (Peshevska et al., 2014). It is termed as any form of action that involves taking ownership of an older adult's properties, goods, and money forcefully. Women are more abused financially than men: 6.5% and 5.4%, respectively ( Peshevska et al., 2014). Financial abuses are commonly committed by forcing older adults to give money against their will and stealing their properties.
Additionally, older people are more likely to encounter neglect than the youths because they do not possess the ability to do most of the things by themselves. Therefore, they may require help to meet their needs. Unfortunately, most of their needs may be ignored by family members and nursing institutions. Neglect cases constitute 6.5% of all the abuse cases reported ( Peshevska et al., 2014). Women are more likely to face neglect than men they constitute 4.7% of all the neglect cases while men presented only 1.8% of the reported cases ( Peshevska et al., 2014). Physical abuse is the fourth most common. Its prevalence is around 5.7%, and women constitute most of the victims than men, with a difference of about 2.3% ( Peshevska et al., 2014). In almost all incidences, women receive more physical abuse than men, which could be associated with a stereotype that deems women as weak in terms of masculinity. Lastly, sexual abuse comprised 1.3% of the total reported cases inflicted on women ( Peshevska et al., 2014). Clearly, women are more subjected to elderly abuse and neglect than men.
Based on this research's findings, it is justifiable to conclude that disabled people and women are more likely to face elderly abuse than physically abled people and men. Men are regarded as masculine than women; therefore, they can defend themselves against physical assaults, unlike women whose biological structure is fragile. Thus, women cannot protect themselves from physical abuse, which makes them vulnerable. Additionally, physically disabled people are more abused because they cannot run and defend themselves from abuse, unlike physically healthy individuals. Furthermore, it is easy to isolate a disabled person from society, making it hard for such individuals to speak about their victimization.
Causes and Impacts of Elderly Abuse and Neglect
There are several moderators and mediator factors that contribute to elderly abuse and neglect. One of the moderator factors include physical health problems (Storey, 2020). Most older adults with physical health issues are vulnerable to abuse because they cannot defend themselves or escape. Their condition makes them inferior to their caregivers. Additionally, in most incidences, physical health impairment like disability increases the victim's chances of being isolated from social groups and society in general. Therefore, the perpetrator commits acts of abuse with the knowledge that it is almost impossible for other people to identify their actions. Physical impairment increases the possibility of severe and multiple forms of abuse on the victim (Storey, 2020). Additionally, disability reduce the victim's self-esteem and increase the need for family care and assistance, subjecting the victim to a high probability of abuse. Decreased self-esteem limits the victim from seeking help.
Additionally, mental issues among caregivers contribute significantly to elderly abuse and neglect. The caregivers, notably in nursing institutions, are more likely to encounter burnout, which may lead to stress—as a result, affecting their mental states. A mentally disturbed caregiver can commit the act of neglect unintentionally. The caregiver is more likely to forget to provide basic needs to all older people under his/her care (Storey, 2020). Furthermore, the caregivers may perceive the older people as the source of stress and physical burnout. Consequently, they may direct their frustration to the patients and inflict pain intentionally. Additionally, increased exposure to stress may lead to depression, thus affecting the caregiver's mental states. A depressed and mentally disturbed person is likely to work unethically. In most elderly abused cases, the number of depressed perpetrators is always high than the mentally stable caregivers (Storey, 2020). Caregivers must learn stress coping techniques to reduce the cases of elderly abuse and neglect.
Victimization is also a significant moderator factor of elderly abuse and neglect. Majority of the abuse perpetrators are more likely to have experienced violence and abuse as children. As a result, the adverse childhood experience may affect the child's psychosocial growth and personality to exhibit aggressiveness as an adult. This condition may provoke them to instill physical and emotional pain in the older adult under their care. Furthermore, childhood victimization may be directly associated with the parent's hostility to a child (Storey, 2020). Therefore, when such a child grows up and is much stronger, he may abuse his parents as a form of revenge.
Lastly, a bad attitude toward the elderly may contribute to abuse and neglect. Naturally, some people are intolerant of the elderly behaviors; therefore, they do not show empathy to the aged people. Furthermore, they hate the role of taking care of the elderly; as a result, they may generate frustrations to the elderly by inflicting pain either emotionally or physically. Some individuals may regard caring for older people to be valueless because they perceive them as a burden to the economy since their contribution is less (Storey, 2020). As a result, such caregivers may think that the elderly deserve abuse.
Unresolved Issues Regarding Elderly Abuse and Neglect
Elderly abuse and neglect are increasingly becoming a significant concern in society. Unfortunately, there are still unresolved gaps and awareness of this problem. Social policies need to enhance awareness about this problem's magnitude to cover the knowledge gap (Williams). Some victims are not aware that they are being abused or neglected. Unresolved ethical issues exist because they vary based on different cultures. Therefore, there is a lack of universal moral measures to handle elderly abuse and neglect problems. As a result, in some communities, forcing older adults to give out their money is considered ethically right. Therefore, such a victim may not realize that he/she is financially violated.
Additionally, the victims can experience ethical dilemmas based on their social beliefs. In such a scenario, older adults are reluctant to seek legal help. For instance, one may have a moral dilemma between confidentiality and safety (William). Some cultures advocate for privacy on matters involving the family. Exposing a family affair in such cultures is deemed unethical and morally wrong. Therefore, an elderly abused victim may hesitate to seek help because he/she is afraid of exposing their families to the public. A gap exists in the legal sector such that many countries do not have a national Bill to fight the elderly abuse and neglect issue. As a result, people are motivated to continue abusing and neglecting the elderly because legal institutions do not restrict them. Some of the unsolved problems include fear of retaliation, which forces the victim to remain silent, self-blame, and economically dependent. Older adults may feel that it is their mistake that they are abused because they cause too much work to their caregivers. Furthermore, some may feel guilty because of their little economic contribution.
Practice and Policy implication Related to Elderly Abuse and Neglect
Several policies and practices aim to solve the elderly abuse and neglect problem. Incentives for private attorneys to accept elderly abuse cases are among the USA's methods that help resolve this problem ( Nerenberg, 2013 ). This practice ensures that the elderly abuse victims receive justice because they can easily afford a private attorney. Perpetrators who had taken the victim's properties are forced to return them regardless of their relationships. Additionally, in some states, the cause of action survives even after the death of the victim. For instance, if a child had taken his parents' properties without their consent and the court forced him to return, he is not eligible to own the properties even after the parents' death.
Additionally, mental health assessment and services practices help in preventing elderly abuse primarily based on finances. This practice's implication measures older adults' mental ability to decide services and enter into contracts ( Nerenberg, 2013 ). As a result, it eliminates any possibility of manipulating the elderly to enter into a contract that benefits the other party and causes harm to an older adult. Lastly, the fraud prevention programs help in responding to frauds. They focus on alerting older adults about possible scams. They also offer counseling services to provide the victims' emotional and social needs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the elderly abuse and neglect is a significant problem in the society. Consequently, elderly adults are exposed to different abuse types, including sexual, financial, emotional, and physical abuse. Several factors like attitude, physical health problems, childhood victimization, and mental problems may lead to elderly abuse and neglect. Fortunately, some practices and policies can help in solving the elderly abuse and neglect problem.
References
Nerenberg, L. (2013). Elder abuse: policy and procedure. Wiley Encyclopedia of Forensic Science .
Peshevska, D. J., Markovik, M., Sethi, D., Serafimovska, E., & Jordanova, T. (2014). Prevalence of elder abuse and neglect: findings from first Macedonian study. Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences , 7 (2), 355-361.
Storey, J. E. (2020). Risk factors for elder abuse and neglect: A review of the literature. Aggression and violent behavior , 50 , 101339.
Williams, M. E. The Ethical Challenges of Elder Abuse - Medscape . Mediscape. https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/532943.
