Primary Education Topic:
Legal & Ethical Issues
Other Education Topics:
Caregiving
Policy and Advocacy
Often there are other contributing factors that fuel elder abuse, which include substance abuse (on the part of the abuser or the victim) and diminished capacity of the elder due to conditions such as dementia (Spencer and Smith, 2000). The following true story illustrates what can happen when these factors come into play.
By Jeannie Jennings Beidler
Research and popular press report alarming instances of familial elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation. The House of Representatives Select Committee on Aging found that older adults are at the greatest risk for abuse, and that in more than two-thirds of substantiated cases, the perpetrator is a family member in a caregiving role—usually an adult child (Elder Serve Act of 2009).