Prevent Elderly Abuse! Signs and Symptoms!
Posted: Friday, January 15, 2010
by MJNewell
The backlash is amazing.
Family members that want this story suppressed is amazing. My brother told me to shut up or I would be sued..I am guessing that would be the harassment charge..Which by the way was denied by the judge. And my web site stays up. (see end of article)
This website tells the story of my mother and what happened in the final year of her life. I am telling her story to reach out to the public and enable them to be better prepared than I was.
It goes on in our nursing homes, in the elder's own home, and we all need to be better educated on the signs and symptoms and how to report any suspician of abuse.
All too often , elders in nursing home are robbed, of jewelry, money and are not being protected by the very people that are responsible for them.
Elders are murdered by spouses, children, care givers and only a scant few are ever prosecuted. Our senior citizens are exposed to domestic violence, financial scams, financial abuse, sexual assault, neglect and abandonment by those that profess to care about them.
We all need to be more vigilent and report any suspicians we may have..It can be done anonymously through DHHS (the Department of human Services) in your state, or calling 911. Or a local police department.
We all need to be more vigilant and better educated. Where does elder abuse take place? Elder abuse tends to take place where the senior lives: most often in the home where abusers are apt to be adult children; other family members such as grandchildren; or spouses/partners of elders. Institutional settings especially long-term care facilities, nursing homes, can also be sources of elder abuse.
The different types of elder abuse Abuse of elders takes many different forms, some involving intimidation or threats against the elderly, some involving neglect, and others involving financial scams . The most common are defined below.
Physical abuse Physical elder abuse is use of force against an elderly person that results in physical pain, injury, or impairment. Such abuse includes not only physical assaults such as hitting or shoving but the inappropriate use of drugs, restraints, or confinement.
Emotional abuse In emotional or psychological senior abuse, people speak to or treat elderly persons in ways that cause emotional pain or distress.
Verbal forms of emotional elder abuse include-
*intimidation through yelling or threats
*humiliation and ridicule
*habitual blaming or scapegoating
Nonverbal psychological elder abuse can take the form of
*ignoring the elderly person
*isolating an elder from friends or activities
*terrorizing or menacing the elderly person
You owe meIf not for me you'd have to go to a nursing home I gave up my life for you (These are direct quotes from my sister to my mother while she was taking care of her)
Sexual abuse Sexual elder abuse is contact with an elderly person without the elder's consent. Such contact can involve physical sex acts, but activities such as showing an elderly person pornographic material, forcing the person to watch sex acts, or forcing the elder to undress are also considered sexual elder abuse. Sexual abuse may be from a caregiver, a family memberWatch for signs of inappropriate touching, intimate contact. And report it!
Neglect or abandonment by caregivers Elder neglect, failure to fulfill a caretaking obligation, constitutes more than half of all reported cases of elder abuse. It can be active (intentional) or passive (unintentional, based on factors such as ignorance or denial that an elderly charge needs as much care as he or she does).
Financial exploitation This involves unauthorized use of an elderly person's funds or property, either by a caregiver or an outside scam artist.
An unscrupulous caregiver might misuse an elder's personal checks, credit cards, or accounts.
Frequent unexplained ATM card use by the perpetrator,depleting the elders monies. A Caregiver may resort to stealing cash, income checks, or household goods
*forge the elder's signature
*engage in identity theft (Credit cards made out in the elders name without the elders knowlege.)
Typical rackets that target elders include- *Announcements of a "prize" that the elderly person has won but must pay money to claim
*Phony charities (Elders are very prone to falling for charitable cause)
*Investment fraud
My mother was 88 and easily duped by charity fraud. I had to be vigilant in order to stop many of these scammers from stealing from her.
Healthcare fraud and abuse Carried out by unethical doctors, nurses, hospital personnel, and other professional care providers, examples of healthcare fraud and abuse regarding elders include
*Not providing healthcare, but charging for it
*Overcharging or double-billing for medical care or services
*Getting kickbacks for referrals to other providers or for prescribing certain drugs
*Overmedicating or undermedicating
*Recommending fraudulent remedies for illnesses or other medical conditions
*Medicaid fraud
Signs and symptoms of elder abuse At first, you might not recognize or take seriously signs of elder abuse. They may appear to be symptoms of dementia or signs of the elderly person's frailty - or caregivers may explain them to you that way. In fact, many of the signs and symptoms of elder abuse do overlap with symptoms of mental deterioration, but that doesn't mean you should dismiss them on the caregiver's say-so.
Or the caregiver may not report any worsening symptoms in order to more easily manage the elder. This happens more easily if you live far away and can't visit your elderly relative often.
General signs of abuse The following are warning signs of some kind of elder abuse:
*Frequent arguments or tension between the caregiver and the elderly person
My mother would complain the my sister was moody, demanding and my sister would often critisize me when I visited..She tried to instill a hostile atmosphere between my mother and I by saying
"Why aren't you here in the middle of the night helping?" " Why aren't you moving in here to help?" " Where were you during Mother's bad spell?" My mother would just tell me to ignore her, don't pay any attention to her.and I did.
My Mother told me weekly that my sister was a very greedy girl and that she wanted everything my mother wanted to give to someone else
*Changes in personality or behavior in the elder
*Withdrawal, extreme shyness, crying a lot. Nervous behavior around the caregiver. Fear. My mother complained to several family members that my sister was using the ATM card so much she wasn't sure she would have enough to pay the bills. And she paid all my sisters outstanding debts, income taxes and monthly bills for the year she was there.
If you suspect elderly abuse, but aren't sure, look for clusters of the following physical and behavioral signs. I had no idea there was such a thing as financial abuseAnd that is what my mother experienced from my sister. There is a large sum of money unaccounted for and many jewelry items are missing.
Signs and symptoms of specific types of abuse Physical abuse *Unexplained signs of injury such as bruises, welts, or scars, especially if they appear symmetrically on two side of the body
*Broken bones, sprains, or dislocations
*Report of drug overdose or apparent failure to take medication regularly (a prescription has more remaining than it should)
(I told my sister repeatedly that she had to keep track of the meds she was giving to our mother..Hospice told her the same thing.. I never saw her write down any meds or times and as far as I know, no record was kept.I over heard a conversation she had with Hospice as to when she gave the Oxycotin and she wasn't sure if it was six, seven or nine o"clock..I spoke up and stressed the need to write it down..My sister was irate that she might have to keep a journal on the meds..And she didn't When my mother died my daughter and I disposed of all the meds we could find..We never found any oxycotin or oxycodone )
*Signs of being restrained, such as rope marks on wrists. Broken eyeglasses or frames *Caregiver's refusal to allow you to see the elder alone. (My sister would not allow me to stay with my mother alone the last two weeks of her life.)
Emotional abuse In addition to the general signs above, indications of emotional elder abuse include *Threatening, belittling, or controlling caregiver behavior that you witness
*Behavior from the elder that mimics dementia, such as rocking, sucking, or mumbling to oneself
Sexual abuse *Bruises around breasts or genitals
*Unexplained venereal disease or genital infections
*Unexplained vaginal or anal bleeding
*Torn, stained, or bloody underclothing
Neglect by caregivers or self-neglect *Unusual weight loss, malnutrition, dehydration
*Untreated physical problems, such as bed sores
*Unsanitary living conditions: dirt, bugs, soiled bedding and clothes
*Being left dirty or unbathed
*Unsuitable clothing or covering for the weather
*Unsafe living conditions (no heat or running water; faulty electrical wiring, other fire hazards)
*Desertion of the elder at a public place
Financial exploitation *Significant withdrawals from the elder's accounts (Frequent ATM card use by caregiver (Not usually named on the account.) This is the most common way that abusers will subject the elder to financial abuse(This is what happened to my mother.)
*Sudden changes in the elder's financial condition..Missing monies.
*Items or cash missing from the senior's household. Especially jewelry or portable valuables.
*Suspicious changes in wills, power of attorney, titles, and policies..
(My two younger siblings wanted to have a new will two weeks before my mother died.) *Addition of names to the senior's signature card
*Unpaid bills or lack of medical care, although the elder has enough money to pay for them
*Financial activity the senior couldn't have done, such as an ATM withdrawal when the account holder is bedridden ( or confined to the home)
(My sister cleaned out my mothers account every month She claimed it was for groceries..A LOT of groceries! (Over $35,000.00 for one year!)
*Unnecessary services, goods, or subscriptions
Healthcare fraud and abuse *Duplicate billings for the same medical service or device
*Evidence of overmedication or undermedication
*Evidence of inadequate care when bills are paid in full
Problems with the care facility:
- Poorly trained, poorly paid, or insufficient staff poor personal care of the elder.
- Crowding
- Inadequate responses to questions about care or finances.
Risk factors for elder abuse It's difficult to take care of a senior when he or she has many different needs, and it's difficult to be elderly when age brings with it infirmities and dependence. Elderly woman in their eighties are the most suseptible to abuse according to the national statistics.
My Mother was 88 and diagnosed with terminal cancer. She was able to care for herself until the last two months of her life. My sister moving in when she became unable to afford to rent her own place seemed at the time to be the best plan for my motherAnd she would be able to care for her in her last daysNone of us knew or understood anything about financial abuse and how it manifests itself. We all found out too late to help my mother and stop this abuse from happeningThe easiest way would have been to put an outsider (or another family member) on the checking account to monitor it..The abuse my sister perpetrated against my mother would never had happened and our family would not have been destroyed.
Both the demands of caregiving and the needs of the elder can create situations in which abuse is more likely to occur. Become better educated.. If abuse happens in your family..Tell your story! It's only by exposure of this terrible tragedy that will eradicate this horror. http://home/rr.com/mjnew
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