This is part one of a three-part blog series of recognizing, preventing, and ending elder abuse.

Meritan received this information from the Family Safety Center and the Coordinated Response to Elder Abuse in Memphis, TN. More sources are below.

For the first time in history, people aged 65 and over will soon outnumber children under 5. With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping many people at home while social distancing, elder abuse should be on our minds. There is a concern in our community now that more older adults will be vulnerable to abuse. Due to increased isolation and self-quarantine, missing primary care physician appointments, and not attending faith-based services, seniors are not as active in the community as they used to be. Moreover, due to the increased unemployment (their relatives may have recently lost jobs), small sources of retirement, social security funds coming in, and most recently, stimulus checks being distributed, seniors may be at a higher risk of being a victim of a financial scam or fraud. Here are some surprising statistics around elder abuse:

Only 1 in 14 cases of abuse are reported to authorities.
In almost 60% of elder abuse and neglect incidents, the perpetrator is a family member.
Two out of three perpetrators are adult children or spouses.
About two out of every three elder abuse victims are women.
Older adults who have experienced abuse or neglect are twice as likely to be hospitalized than other older people.

These are frightening statistics, but we can help by recognizing, reporting, and preventing elder abuse in our communities and families. In order to recognize and prevent elder abuse, we must first understand what elder abuse is:

Elder abuse is the mistreatment or harming of an older person. There are different types of elder abuse. It can include physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, along with neglect and financial exploitation.

Neglect is a caregiver’s failure to provide an older adult with life’s necessities, including, but not limited to food, clothing, shelter, or medical care. The signs of abuse and/or neglect can be from unusual weight loss, malnutrition, dehydration physical programs, unsanitary living conditions, and etc.
Physical abuse is inflicting physical pain or injury upon an older adult. The signs of physical abuse are unexplained burns, cuts, bruises, and bleeding, sprained or broken bones, or injuries that happen over and over.
Emotional abuse includes verbal assaults, threats of abuse, harassment, or intimidation. The signs of emotional/psychological abuse are acting withdrawn or frightened, changes in behavior that you can’t explain, and feeling depressed, confused, or loss of interest in things normally enjoyed.
Sexual abuse is touching, fondling, intercourse, or any other sexual activity with an older adult, when the older adult is unable to understand, unwilling to consent, threatened, or physically forced. The signs of sexual abuse are unexplained sexually transmitted diseases or inadequately explained fractures, bruises, welts, sores, or burns.
Financial exploitation is the misuse or withholding of an older adult’s resources by another. The signs of financial exploitation are withdrawals from bank accounts that your loved one can’t explain or even a new "friend" who may be taking financial advantage of them. Other signs could include changing of legal documents, unpaid bills, or missing financial statements.

Recognizing elder abuse and learning these warning signs is the first step that you can take to help END elder abuse. It doesn’t stop here. Check back next Monday on our blog, and we are giving you actions that you can take now to help prevent elder abuse.

Resources:

Received from the Family Safety Center and the Coordinated Response to Elder Abuse in Memphis, TN.

Received from https://www.ncoa.org/public-policy-action/elder-justice/elder-abuse-facts/#intraPageNav1