Literature Review On Elder Abuse

Review of Literature

Responsibility of Reporting

According to the House Select Committee on Aging, one to two million American elderly adults has experienced mistreatment each year (United States Congress, 1991). This number is simply an estimation due to lack of understanding of the law and what constitutes as neglect and abuse. Discussions by physicians on when to report challenge the data of how many cases occur within our nation. Many articles believe that the physician is not the best individual to report such findings due to physical evidence needed to support neglect and abuse accusations. Responsibility then lands on social service providers who can relate on personal levels with the individual and gain trusting relationships. Trust

A study done by Kennedy (2005) shows that 23% of physicians believe that elder mistreatment is a noteworthy problem in their current patient population. Within this study, only 18% of the surveyed physicians consider elder mistreatment to be as prevalent as child or spousal abuse and 2% of these physicians believed elder neglect and abuse was more important (Kennedy, 2005). With physicians only seeing their elderly patients on average of five times a year, it is hard to develop a rapport with the individuals they serve which ultimately limits the chance of neglect and abuse to be

Self-neglect has been defined by the National Center on Elder Abuse (2007) as the refusal or failure to provide himself/herself with acceptable food, water, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene, medications, and safety precautions. Natural aging and domestic incidents makes neglect and abuse harder to detect (Winterstein, 2012). However, when the elderly individual is the main provider and care giver for them reporting is nonexistent. Kennedy (2005) reported that 75% of the elderly population have mental or physical health impairments and are unable to meet their daily requirements and needs without assistance. Often times, the elderly individual is hesitant to accept care from institutions in fear of losing independence or embarrassment. Elderly individuals may not be aware of the at home resources available to them and are left dealing with missed appointments and medication refills due to no transportation, improper food storage, and physical health deteriorating due to inadequate health