Essay On Elder Abuse

Not all people are lucky enough to receive the basic needs in their lives. One of the most targeted group of people who are struggling everyday with their lives are elders. Like other stages of life such as childhood and adulthood, old age is one of the important stages of life. All human being must go through this stage. They have equal rights to get the required resources and opportunities in their lives. They deserve to be treated with respect, love, and dignity. Elder abuse has become a very hot topic because it is growing in an alarming rate. They are abused at home, in hospitals, and in long term facilities in different ways, and has become a critical health care issue. Elder abuse is social injustice because it is extremely under-reported

It may not be always easy to recognize, but there are some obvious sign and symptoms of physical abuse that cannot be hidden by the victims and the abusers. Those signs include cuts, burns, restraint marking, broken bones, bruises, broken eye glass or frames, repeated trips to the emergency room for unusual pattern of injury. Physical abuse not only affects the physical body, but significantly affect the emotional and mental health. The number of elderly people population is increasing every day and with that population being increased, approximately 1 out of 10 has experienced one or more form of elder abuse including physical abuse and emotional abuse. Elder abuse was first described in 1975 in British journals by giving a “granny battering” terminology, which shows that this problem has been around for long time (). Elder abuse issue was first identified and described in the developed countries, and later in the developing countries, therefore, it can be considered as universal phenomenon. Elders are abused by their families (spouse and children), relatives, friends, healthcare personnel and care staffs in the healthcare settings such as long-term care facilities and assisted