According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, “Elder mistreatment (i.e. abuse and neglect) is defined as intentional actions that cause harm or create a serious risk of harm (whether or not harm is intended) to a vulnerable elder by a caregiver or other person who stands in a trust relationship to the elder. This includes failure by a caregiver to satisfy the elder’s basic needs or to protect the elder from harm.”1 The topic I chose to conduct my research on is in regards to the public policy issues related to the prevention of elder abuse. This topic pertaining to the elderly particularly stood out to me because of my seven years’ experience in working with the elderly community within the city of Boston. It is unfortunate that according …show more content…
The video we watched, Elder Abuse: Five Case Studies, was an intense documentary detailing the lives of five elderly individuals who had experienced, or are currently experiencing, abuse from a loved one. I found Dorothy 's story to be more meaningful because I feel as though this type of situation happens often in our society. Dorothy 's adult son, Gary, was living with her. Gary was an unemployed alcoholic who abuses his mother because he felt he never got what he deserved from her, as far as their financial arrangement went. Throughout the video Gary came across as being very manipulative, reproachful and angry towards his mother. I think many elderly parents in today 's society are taking care of their children who are struggling with addiction. The elderly population, in general, feels as though they are at fault for having a child who is addicted to alcohol and/or drugs because there wasn 't a lot of information regarding families of alcoholics and/or other drugs in the years that they were raising their children. It seems as though many elderly parents take the responsibility for their children being addicts instead of seeking help for them. Unfortunately, within our society the story presented regarding Dorothy and her son, Gary, is all too common. According to familiar these days, which is why I found it to be meaningful because there needs to be more information and awareness available to the public regarding this