In the United States, one in 10 individuals over 60 years experiences a form of elder abuse at home, according to the National Council on Aging (NCOC) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many cases go unreported. Elder abuse takes many forms, including physical, sexual, verbal, psychological, and financial.
4. Verbal, emotional, and psychological
elder abuse includes swearing, yelling,
insulting, and disrespectful comments.It
can also include ignoring elders or
declining genuine requests and prompts.
The abuser in this scenario aims to assert
authorityover the senior through coercive
or threateningbehavior, isolation from
friends, family, and regular activities, or
treatingthe elderly like children.
5. For sexual abuse, the culprit takes advantage of the elder’s immobility and frailty. The perpetrator
manifeststhe abuse through inappropriate touching, unwanted sexualbehavior, or forcing
someone to watch pornographic material.
6. Lastly, financialelder abuse results from
financialexploitation. Reports indicate
that 88,000 older fraud victims lost an
average of $35,000 each in 2022, with a
total financialloss of $3.1 billion.
Financialelder abuse takes many forms,
such as unauthorized use of the elder’s
property. It also includes forgingor
trickingelders into signingdocuments
for fraudulent purposesand
mismanagingfunds for personalbenefit.