Elder abuse: Do you know the signs?

According to the National Council on Aging, about one in 10 Americans aged 60 and older have experienced some form of elder abuse. It is estimated that as high as 5 million elders are abused each year. Reports also estimate that one in 24 cases of abuse are reported. It's also important to note that, like younger age groups, many older victims do not report the violence they experience.

Do you know the warning signs and red flags as well as the risk factors?

Warning signs an older adult is living in an unhealthy relationship

Abusive behavior warning signs

• Controlling behavior
• Speaking for a family member, at medical visits for example, answering questions and not letting the older adult talk
• Making all the decisions without asking
• Preventing visits with family and friends
• Threatening to leave, neglect or hurt
• Often being short-tempered or angry with the older adult
• Not respecting privacy
• Putting locks in the house, such as bedroom doors, to keep the older adult in or out
• Reading or withholding mail
• Controlling finances without permission or legal authority
• Blaming the older adult
• Treating the older adult like a child
• Belittling and name calling
• Leaving a dependent person alone for long periods of time

Unique factors or circumstances that may prevent accessing help

• Older adult may feel dependent on the person who is the abuser, so they feel there are no other options.
• Older adults are unable to talk about their unhappy feelings with the abuser, or they don’t speak in the same language as the person causing harm.
• Older adult does not feel they can tell anyone because they feel ashamed or embarrassed that someone they loved, such as a spouse or family member, has harmed them.
• Older adult does not know about any support services that can help and is unaware of their options.

Red flags of possible abuse by a family member or spouse/partner

• Forces the older adult to sign over the legal control of their property or health when they can look after these things themselves; forced to change their will, or to sign over the ownership of their home, or add them to their bank /credit card accounts.
• The substitute decision maker or power of attorney for property and/or personal care is not acting in older adult's best interest, has not paid their bills or provided enough money for food and necessary items.
• Demeans older adult verbally or with gestures and/or calls names.
• Refuses older adult to have medication, food, water, or personal care items.
• Limits use of assistive devices (walker, cane, glasses, hearing aids).
• Hits, pushes, slaps, kicks, burns, pinches and/or restrains or locks older adult in a room.
• Makes older adult fearful or nervous when they are present.
• Takes money, property or belongings without agreement or consent, lives with them and refuses to pay their share of the rent/mortgage.
• Puts limits on their using the phone or having contact with other people.
• Forces older adult to take part in sexual activity, makes unwanted comments of a sexual nature, shows unwanted images of a sexual nature, or forces you to watch others engage in sexual activities
• Yells, threatens, and makes fun of them.

Domestic violence risk factors

It is important to recognize risk factors that may put an older adult at higher risk of harm and abuse. These risk factors may be related to a history of domestic violence or may have started recently.

The following are risk factors which can indicate if a situation of domestic violence is getting worse and could lead to serious harm or death:

• A history of domestic violence
• Actual or pending separation
• Obsessive behaviors by abuser
• Abuser is depressed
• Level of violence is increasing
• Prior threats / suicide attempts by abuser
• Threat to kill
• Prior attempts to isolate abused person
• Abused person is uneasy or afraid (intuitive sense of fear)
• Abuser is unemployed

The following are risk factors with no prior history of domestic violence:

• Abuser has mental health issues – depression
• Social isolation
• Deteriorating health and loss of mobility,
• Chronic cognitive and physical illnesses
• Older adults have disabilities and is dependent on other family/care providers
• Poverty
• Fear of being a burden, being separated, been sent to a ‘home’ increases vulnerability
• Lack of coordinated approach and services to support families, increases vulnerability
• Lack of respite for caregivers in situations of intensive care

The information in this article was obtained from various sources not associated with Adirondack Bank. While we believe it to be reliable and accurate, we do not warrant the accuracy or reliability of the information. Adirondack Bank is not responsible for, and does not endorse or approve, either implicitly or explicitly, the information provided or the content of any third-party sites that might be hyperlinked from this page. The information is not intended to replace manuals, instructions or information provided by a manufacturer or the advice of a qualified professional, or to affect coverage under any applicable insurance policy. These suggestions are not a complete list of every loss control measure. Adirondack Bank makes no guarantees of results from use of this information.

Article written by Elder Abuse Ontario