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| This category is related to lessening the impact of abuse after it has occurred, and rehabilitating the victim.<ref name="Andresen" /> Tertiary prevention also includes rehabilitating family members of the victim of abuse.<ref name="Andresen" /> This usually involves a dramatic change in care for the victim.<ref name="Andresen" /> Supplying home support to the family and elder person is a common technique.<ref name="Andresen" /> If the family can afford it, they may consider hiring a live-in caregiver.<ref name="Andresen" /> If the home environment can not be rehabilitated into a safe one, the only option for the elderly person is to be institutionalized in a professional caretaking facility.<ref name="Andresen" /> | This category is related to lessening the impact of abuse after it has occurred, and rehabilitating the victim.<ref name="Andresen" /> Tertiary prevention also includes rehabilitating family members of the victim of abuse.<ref name="Andresen" /> This usually involves a dramatic change in care for the victim.<ref name="Andresen" /> Supplying home support to the family and elder person is a common technique.<ref name="Andresen" /> If the family can afford it, they may consider hiring a live-in caregiver.<ref name="Andresen" /> If the home environment can not be rehabilitated into a safe one, the only option for the elderly person is to be institutionalized in a professional caretaking facility.<ref name="Andresen" /> | ||
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| ==Notes and References== | ==Notes and References== | ||
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Revision as of 18:48, 2 November 2011
Contents |
Elder Abuse
Group Members:
-Alex Jackson
-Chris Ward
-Tammy Beauvais
The Effects of Elder Abuse
Physical Effects
Abuse that is inflicted on an elder person may compromise their physical health.[1] There is a strong association between experiencing elder abuse and suffering from a variety of physical ailments.[1] Elder persons who suffer psychological or emotional abuse are more likely to report experiencing bone or joint problems, digestive problems, chronic pain, high blood pressure or heart problems than those who do not report experiencing abuse.[1] Additionally, some types of abuse when experienced multiples times, have a significantly greater physical impact.[1] For example, repeated psychological abuse from a spouse is more strongly related to a self reported poor health status than other less frequent but more intense forms of abuse.[1]
Experiencing abuse in late adulthood has an impact on how much longer the elder person will live.[2] Elderly persons who experience abuse may, as a result, die earlier than those who have not been abused.[2] This was discovered through a groundbreaking study involving 2812 individuals age 65 or older.[2] It was a long-term study which tracked their health across a thirteen year span.[2] Among those individuals who sought help from protective services regarding abuse, only 9% were still alive at the end of the study, whereas 17% of individuals who required no such intervention were still alive.[2]
Psychological Effects
Abuse has a profound influence on a person's psychological well being, and elderly persons are no exception.[1] Elderly persons who experienced abuse were significantly more likely to report symptoms of depression and anxiety, regardless of the the type of abuse they were subjected to.[1] Elder women that have been abused exhibit more chronic stress symptoms than elder women who have not experienced such abuse.[1] Psychological issues such as depression are especially relevant to elder persons, because elder persons are more prone to live socially isolated lives.[3]
Prevention of Elder Abuse
Preventative measures may be classified within one of the three broad categories:
Primary prevention
This category is related to providing the public with resources related to health promotion.[4] Some factors of primary prevention include educating people about what "normal aging" involve, so they may detect any abnormalities in an elder person's health.[4] Primary prevention also involves informing the public of what support systems exist in the community that cater to the elderly.[4]
There is an inherent difficulty in the detection of elder abuse: the regular effects of aging can make the identification of maltreatment difficult.[3] Because of this, primary preventative measures are always an important resource for the public so that they make educated observations about elder persons in their lives regarding their quality of treatment.
The greatest barrier in preventing elder abuse, according to a sample of Ontario physicians, was denial of abuse by the patient or their family.[5] The next two most significant barriers were: resistance to intervention after abuse had been identified by the patient or family, and a lack of knowledge about where to call for help.[5] All three of these factors directly relate to a lack of primary prevention measures that exist in the community.
Secondary Prevention
This category encompasses measures for detecting elder abuse as well as intervention strategies.[4] Health care providers have the duty to properly assess the well being of their patients. Because of this, they are in an ideal position to detect abuse among the elder population. Elder persons may also be able interact with health care providers more than the rest of the population when seeking treatment for regular health issues related to aging. Unfortunately, screening procedures among physicians are usually rare.[6] In a study of over 300 physicians, 63% claimed that they never or almost never asked their elder patients about mistreatment, and 82% said that they were not been trained to diagnose elder mistreatment.[6]
A significant issue associated with interventions of elder abuse is related to the regulations of mandatory reporting laws.[7] These laws can legally compel individuals to report elder abuse if they are aware of such occurrences taking place. Unfortunately, very few states in the US have enacted such laws.[7] Alternately, every state, without exception, has enacted mandatory reporting laws for incidences of child abuse.[7] More cases of elder abuse could potentially be reported and dealt with if such laws were more widespread.
Tertiary Prevention
This category is related to lessening the impact of abuse after it has occurred, and rehabilitating the victim.[4] Tertiary prevention also includes rehabilitating family members of the victim of abuse.[4] This usually involves a dramatic change in care for the victim.[4] Supplying home support to the family and elder person is a common technique.[4] If the family can afford it, they may consider hiring a live-in caregiver.[4] If the home environment can not be rehabilitated into a safe one, the only option for the elderly person is to be institutionalized in a professional caretaking facility.[4]
Notes and References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Fisher, B.S. & Regan, S.L. (2006). The extent and frequency of abuse in the lives of older women and their relationship with health outcomes. The Gerontologist, 46(2), 200-209.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Charlson, M.E., Lachs, M.S., O'Brien, S., Pillemer, K.A. & Williams, C.S. (1998). The mortality of elder mistreatment. Journal of the American Medical Association, 280(5), 428-433.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lachs, M.S. & Pillemer, K. (2004). Elder Abuse. The Lancet, 364(1), 1263-1272.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Andresen, P., Hackbarth, D.P. & Konestabo, B. (1989). Maltreatment of the elderly in the home: A framework for prevention and intervention. Journal of Home Health Care Practice, 2(1), 43-56.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Krueger, P. & Patterson, C. (1997). Detecting and managing elder abuse: Challenges in primary care. Journal of the Canadian Medical Association, 157(8), 1095-1100.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kennedy, R.D. (2004). Elder abuse and neglect: The experience, knowledge, and attitudes of primary care physicians. Family Medicine, 37(7), 481-486.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Gelles, R.J. & Pedrick-Cornell, C. (1982). Elder Abuse: The status of current knowledge. Family Relations, 31(1), 457-465.
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