Aging America: Elder Abuse on the Rise

This article is about an anonymous elderly woman who is living at a shelter that exists solely to support victims of senior abuse. This article also outlines why the number of senior abuse cases are on the rise. There are not enough shelters like this one to address the growing number of elderly folks abused (either physically, mentally, or financially). The shelter is a safe place to live, but also provides medical, psychological, and legal assistance. The reason for rise in numbers of abused seniors is that the population of seniors is now so large due to the baby boomer generation reaching 65, and because people are living longer lives than a few decades ago. It is estimated that one in ten seniors have suffered abuse. Senior abuse as a social issue is no where close to child abuse in terms of awareness, protection, and funding. 

In many instances elder abuse goes unreported because a family member is the abuser. This leads to shame and fear on the part of the elderly person suffering the abuse and they often don’t report it. Other reasons why it goes unreported are confusion on the part of the abused, not knowing who to report abuse to,  and lack of of follow up and help from cash-strapped family service providers who are physically and fiscally unable to investigate all the cases they receive.

To read the full article, click the link provided:

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/27/16725913-aging-america-elder-abuse-on-the-rise?lite