Spring is Here and April is the month for Celebrating Life!
Spring is Here and April is the month for Celebrating Life!
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Any intentional or neglectful act that causes injury or bodily harm is considered ABUSE. Examples would be include hitting, shoving, kicking, or burning an older person, tying him to a bed or wheelchair, locking him in a room, or giving him drugs his doctor hasn’t prescribed.
Physical abuse is often a visible injury. However, other signals could include:
While Sexual Abuse to elderly persons may sound odd, but it is a growing issue. Many elderly victims have medical problems that result in difficulties communicating, confusion, or memory loss. These issues often prohibit or interfere with their ability to call for help or report abuse.
Like any other form of abuse, Sexual Abuse can range from forcing an elderly person to watch pornography to inappropriate touching to actual sexual contact.
Signs can include physical, emotional and psychological reactions. Examples are:
While physical abuse is the most visible, psychological or emotional abuse is most common. It can come from family members, caretakers, nursing facility staff, volunteers or others with regular contact.
How do you know if abuse may be happening to your loved one? Here are some key indicators to watch for:
NEGLECT is when a caregivers fail to tend to the needs of an elderly person. This can be not providing enough food, water, housing, medicines and other necessities.
Neglect also includes failure to help an elder with personal hygiene, pay bills or see to other normal daily tasks that they are unable to do for themselves.
ABANDONMENT is leaving the elder person alone to fend for themselves, or "dumping" them in nursing facilities without family interaction or visits.
When an older person is unable to care for themselves, that is classified as SELF-NEGLECT.
Inability or failure to care for one's self or not being able to function in normal daily life, is another cause for concern in our elderly population.
Self-Neglect is often unrecognized or goes unreported due to shame or fear of the unknown consequence.
Tennessee has several support systems available for the elderly which address living conditions, medical care, legal resources and other needs..
The first portion of the elderly protection legislative action, known as the Senior Financial Protection and Securities Modernization Act, created protection from abusive financial crimes by strengthening the penalties to felonies for caregivers who steal from the elderly or vulnerable adults.
According to Tennessee statute, the "new laws provide greater tools available to the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance’s (TDCI) Securities Division and the securities industry in helping detect and prevent financial exploitation."
“Studies and statistical evidence prove that 1 in 5 of every citizen over age 65 has or will be victimized by some form of financial fraud,” states DA Matthew Stowe.
“Our financial abuse legislation assists the people and institutions who are best poised to see the red-flags of this type of financial abuse.”
Self-Neglect is one of the most difficult things to address with elderly adults. Sometimes self-neglect is hard to recognize. When someone loses the ability to take care of their daily essential needs, such as personal hygiene, taking medications, maintaining adequate shelter, or having proper food and nutrition, this is considered a form of elder self-abuse. Many times, elders are not aware that they are not caring for themselves properly. Say something interesting about your business here.
Recent studies show that the risk of premature death is 15 times higher for elders experiencing self-neglect than for other adults. With the addition of illness, dementia, poverty, depression or loss of a caregiver, self-neglect can quickly become a serious situation. Nearly half of all elder abuse cases have some form of self-neglect included. Often self-neglect is the first outward expression that alerts families and caregivers that their elderly loved one is having problems.
March is National Nutrition Month and a great time to learn about ways to enhance your nutrition. Elderly adults are most often negligent with proper nutrition, especially if they live alone. Find out more about facing the topic of Self-Neglect and Proper Nutrition.
Do you need to report suspected abuse, neglect, or self-neglect of a vulnerable or elderly adult? Call: Toll Free 1-888-APS-TENN (1-888-277-8366) Or, report suspected abuse online at our secure site: https://reportadultabuse.dhs.tn.gov/
All reports are confidential and can remain anonymous.