Child abuse is mandatory reporting and so is elder abuse when it occurs in residential care. What about when the individual doesn't live in residual care?
I am currently in my last year of social work degree and I'm researching why elder abuse is not covered for all elders in our community.
As you are probably aware elder abuse is on the increase as our aged population lives longer and they remain in their own homes or cared for my family members.
Do you feel as a neighbour if you witness a son abusing their elderly parent would you report it? If as a bank worker you noticed an elder's bank account diminishing rapidly since their family member became power attorney would you report it? But would they know who to report it too?
Elder abuse comes under domestic violence and research shows people do not like becoming involve when they witness or become aware of domestic violence occurring.
We also know for a lot of our aged population they cannot for themselves report being abused for various reasons, health reasons, fear of getting family into trouble, losing contact of family just to mention a few examples.
What are your opinions on making mandatory reporting for elder abuse in our community, would you support it? Would you support a helpline to be set up similar to that for child abuse to report elder abuse?
I realise there pros and cons for this subject and would like to hear those opinions please.
Thank you
Also there is the issue of false reporting, for devious reasons. Siblings are fighting over what should be done with mother's money. One notices a bruise on her arm and makes up a story about the other (who is caregiver) abusing her. Elders with dementia may not be able to give an accurate account. It's a real nightmare. I don't know whether "mandatory" reporting would have any impact on this or not.
If I saw abuse of a neighbor I would definitely report it. But I don't think most abuse happens where neighbors are apt to see it. And there would need to be a lot of "training" on what signs to look for. The whole first year my husband had dementia and was falling down regularly he had bruises all over him. He took blood thinners and the bruises were very colorful and noticeable. If some person not familiar with the situation had reported this as suspicious I'm sure I could have defended myself, with the doctors' support, but it would have been added stress to an already overwhelming situation. For that reason I would be reluctant to report possible abuse unless I saw it happen or knew a lot about the situation. Just seeing bruises, for example, would not prompt me to report it.
I don't know who in a large banking organization would be keeping track of what is going on in a modest individual account.
I would support a helpline. I would not support mandatory reporting except by those with professional responsibility.
I'm not really sure what the solution would be. We need to protect our elders. We also need to protect their caregivers and families. I, for one, consider privacy very important. Be careful what you wish for. In an attempt to help and protect, you can also ruin someone else's life. Very slippery slope, IMHO.
And, yup, sometimes caregivers won't give up any of the responsibilities that could be delegated.
Now ... are you in favor of mandatory abuse reporting? :)
you make a fine point. i personally am not guilty of the hero complex. i severed a relationship with an old " friend " last week because she wouldnt help me with mom. i write to my sisters often asking them to visit to give mom some additional female companionship. a whole bunch of no - reply is what im getting back. i do honestly respect your opinion, its quite valid in some cases.
i s'pose im in favor of the current system of professionals reporting abusive situations but the next door neighbor probably cant manage his / her own problems and dont know s**t about the challenges of caring for dementia, alz, bipolar patients.
I agree a helpline/hotline for elder abuse needs to be set up for people that can ring if they feel they have witnessed/suspect elder abuse. I personally would rather report something and if proven wrong I would apologize than turn a blind eye and let that individual continue to be abused.
As for banks yes I admit it would be hard to monitor but I was thinking of bank tellers who see regular customers and notice a sudden change in the aged person's account. Once again it would be better to be wrong than turn a blind eye and allow this to continue to happen if you suspect elder abuse.
Its not a quick fix solution and community awareness needs to be addressed. Not with tv commercials shown once every couple of years but shown regularly on TV, billboards every type of advertisement,
We are all god willing grow old one day and I would like to think it can be done in safe fulfilling environment free of all forms of abuse. Education of the community is needed to achieve this.
I thought there were elder abuse hotlines already?
Would I call one if I thought an elder were being abused or neglected? It would depend upon what I witnessed but yes, I would call a hotline if I thought an elder were being abused. Of course I would.
youd have to inject people with sodium penathol to uncover their every motive for caring in home for an elder. it may be part necessity , obligation, mutual benefit, love, could be a combination of things but someone tending to an elders needs around the clock for years is not living the high life. they are sacrificing in ways unimagined to someone who hasnt been in that position. if they recieve some compensation or inheritance they probably earned it ten times over.
i still maintain that a sick relationship can be spotted a mile away by a good doc.
In order to prove I wasn't taking my moms money or that I stole her social security card, I had to get a lawyer and pay him to show her claims were false. If people could just say I didn't do it, then fine. Spending my money on a lawyer wasn't fine. I was already paying her bills with my own money then I had to get a lawyer to prove I was helping her. There are two sides to this topic. Not all elders are sweet little old ladies sitting in a wheelchair knitting for the poor.
I don't need the government telling me to report something I'd do automatically. But of course, as is always the case with all these laws, ONE person ruins it for all of us. It sends shivers up my spine when something like this is tagged mandatory. It brings to mind Germany 1940s style or modern day countries where neighbor spies on neighbor. Seeing anybody being beaten up is grounds for reporting. But you had better know what you're talking about when you report something in the gray area. Like I said, you had best be careful what you wish for or it can come back to bite you in the rear end.
Confabulation is very common in elderly people. Often the untrue stories become the truth in their mind, so if investigated, the elder would agree that it is what happened. The caregiver could be nailed to the wall for something they didn't even do.
I don't know if there is much need for a hotline in many places. I had one friend that worked with Human Resources and their department was very responsive to reports of elder abuse. A simple call to the county could launch an investigation. My friend had some horror stories of elder abuse and neglect, but few people outside the home could see it.
When my step daughter moved out of my house she was mad at my husband. She stole all of my jewelry (about $3K), almost all of the meat in our freezer (about $2K), turned me in to DHS for slugging my mother (not true), and turned her father in to PD for selling drugs (also not true). The social worker took three months to finally close the case, even though it was unfounded. It wasn't that she kept trying to dig up dirt, it was that she held such a heavy caseload. Mother's case manager has known mother for 10 years in one capacity or another and was able to vouch for the level of care mother receives. However, that 3 month period of waiting for the response was VERY stressful!
The last time my mother slugged me in the jaw she left a fist sized bruise on my face that lasted two weeks! Yes I smacked her hand for it and told her not to do that again. It was a knee jerk reaction. I told her nurse what happened and offered her the chance to look mother over for signs of abuse... i.e. bruising, etc. The nurse declined. Then she went back to the office and told the social worker that I slugged my mother! There is a WORLD of difference between a smack and a slug! Fortunately the DHS social worker (a different one from the previous time) was able to see that mother was well cared for. Unfortunately, that made the 2nd report on me in a year's time. Thus I have had to be twice as diligent to ensure she didn't injure herself in any way, and I had to learn to get the hell out of her way when she was trying to attack me since I am not allowed to defend myself or respond to her abuse!
I agree that elder abuse is a HUGE problem. I also know that the reverse happens just as often, if not more often. Caregiving is difficult enough without having untrained people trying to report people for suspected abuse.
As for the banking... mother's bank if VERY diligent in monitoring their seniors' bank accounts. Mother pays her rent twice a year rather than monthly. EACH time, they come out and talk to me to make sure that this is something valid.
Additionally... as a CDAC provider through Medicaid, I am a mandatory reporter. If I did something (sch as smack mother's hand) I had to report it (which I did) even when it wasn't abuse.
You know there's no abuse, you don't even suspect abuse. Duh(?)
i think the one size fits all tactics of aps right now is to preemptively instill coercion and fear into the carer and its a simpleminded, unhelpful, and unhealthy policy imo.
i think in general aps is prompt and effective but i wish they were less smug and more advisory.
alas, our current nurse admitted to me that this external pressure from aps is a strategy and we both had a good laugh but we both know its far from funny.
The issue of bruises -- argh! My Mom used to get bruises if someone looked at her cross-eyed when she was in her 30s, then for some random reason the problem went away (she wasn't being abused -- she'd bump against the tub while walking by it and get a silver-dollar size bruise). My Grandmother had bruises everywhere after hip surgery (IVs, blood draws, etc), but after recovering from the surgery and regaining weight she doesn't bruise much anymore. So no, bruises are NOT an indicator of abuse.
Often the reduction in the account is legitimate (ie need for elder care, doing long-deferred maintenance, paying back-bills, etc). Banks can and do report potential abuse to APS, but maybe a more organized approach is appropriate.
I can fully relate to what both Madeea, horserider, and Austin have posted. My brother commented here while back that I had an overly developed sense of responsibility. I have worked SO hard for SO long to ensure that mother has EVERYTHING she needs BEFORE she even knows she needs it. DHS quite often does not care that we take better care of our loved ones than a facility could. They seldom care that more abuse happens in facilities than in private homes. Fortunately both DHS workers I dealt with were able to ascertain mother was not abused; unfortunately many DHS workers believe the initial report they are given rather than taking the time to actually investigate. People are removed daily because of false reports. By having untrained people being mandatory reporters those removals can and WILL escalate.
I have worked as an aged carer in the community and recently my grandmother moved into a nursing home so aged care is a very personal topic for me. During my studies of elder abuse in Australia it has been a struggle to find up to date stats on just how bad elder abuse is here in Australia.
Yes federal and state governments are "seen" to be doing something in prevention of elder abuse. I'm sure this is occurring internationally as well. the older our populations get and living longer the rate of elder abuse increases. my concern it will become an epidemic before we know it. one case of elder abuse is too many I feel.
Through out my 4 years of study to be a social worker I have been called a number of not so nice things. So I was not surprised when after a few comments about my posting of elder abuse comments would turn to stories of negative experiences with social workers. hopefully when I am working with elders and their carers I can have a positive influence.
Insight you have all given as carers and workers has been very informative. the main message is we wont tolerate elder abuse. how we prevent it/report it as I suspected is no easy effort.
the need to get the message out is a start and not just every couple of years but on a regular basis. the ostrich in the sand approach will not work.
thank you for your ongoing opinions
This is a daunting problem that has no easy solution. We want to stop elder abuse, but don't want to make the life of good caregivers more difficult.