Today we are going to discuss the all to common occurence that faces our country everyday: Elder Abuse. Most importantly we will discuss what we can do as community members to eliminate this tragedy. But first, let us identify the problem. What is elder abuse? Who commits these crimes? How do we eliminate these crimes from happening? The Ultimate goal will obviously be to eliminate this tragedy completely, but that depends on the individuals committing the crimes. There is only so much someone on the outside can do to stop this. There are steps that can be taken to help prevent elderly abuse but these steps can not control a caregivers actions only influence them to do the right thing. And that is to provide the necessary services to the elderly without causing hardship and promoting quality of life.
Elder abuse comes in various forms and each causing the elderly a different type of hardship. The most common is neglect and financial exploitation. When we hear the word “abuse” the first thing many think is either physically striking the individual and causing injury or verbal abuse being rude and demanding. Each of these abusive behaviors cause the elderly to experience insecurity, pain, high stress, or any other adjective that would cause a reduction in quality of life.
Neglect is the refusal of the caregiver to provide the necessary services that are necessary for the elderly individual to experience a high quality of life. Some examples would be neglecting to bath or shower their assigned client or family member. Neglecting to administer their client’s or family members medications. Leaving their food or any necessary supplies empty for days or weeks at a time. This tragic act can also be combined with another crime which is financial exploitation; essentially stealing from the client or family member.
Financial exploitation will occur more often when a caregiver is assigned to manage a client’s financial situation. Sometimes a caregiver is assigned to pay a clients bills and do thier shopping in which they would have full authority to write checks and withdraw cash. As you can probably already assume, what happens in these situations is the caregiver makes purchases that are not authorized by the client. Thence taking advantage of the clients trust. Depending on the situation this type of crime can be difficult to catch if the amounts being stolen are few and far between. Another factor in bringing justice to this type of crime is the issue of alzhiemer’s and dementia clients. They truely may not remember if they gave the authorization to make certain purchases. Sometimes the client and caregiver may have a very strong trusting relationship and the client may genuinly want to give the caregiver a gift of some sort. This is especially difficult in situations where the caregiver is a family member. In many instances it may be a genuin gift to a family member which is a very common occurance but this can be examined on a case by case basis. The best solution to this issue is to just make it a rule that the caregiver does not accept gifts. That way there will be no question as to whether the money was truely given or stolen.
The real solution to this problem comes down to finding the right people to care for our elderly. Good people are the solution. Those that truely respect their clients right to a high quality of life and respect their clients resources are the answer. Integrity is a key character trait in the selection of a caregiver. The state can make law after law that may or may not make a difference in these crimes happening. Ultimately its up to the caregiver to be a good person.
