ELDER ABUSE - Keep Your Eyes Open!

The holidays will be here soon and with all the activity many of you will be focusing on entertaining, travel, shopping, and family togetherness. The elderly often become targets of exploitation and abuse during this time and with all that is going on, it's easy to overlook or be in denial when the situation is right in front of you.

Hopefully, this article will be a wake up call to many families. Julie Beckwith, owner of Home Helpers says, "I've seen everything from lottery scams to family members who take advantage of Mom or Dad by taking money or neglecting them, and the "sudden friend" who comes out of nowhere then demands large tips, money or steals their identity."

You may be surprised to know that most abuse comes from a family member. The abused is most often a woman who is isolated or may have Alzheimer's or dementia. Men can be abused as well, especially if they are in a frail condition. Often the abused person is very afraid to report the situation because they fear that they may be shipped off to a nursing home or they may feel dependent on the abuser.

There are many forms of abuse, some more complicated, but all happen more than we care to admit. The following definitions are defined by The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. "The examples provided are real situations that have been reported by families and people in our support group," says Beckwith.

Abuse: The affliction of physical, sexual or emotional injury or harm including financial exploitation by any person, firm or corporation.

Example: Domestic stress causing a family member to lash out in anger causing emotional and/or physical harm.

Financial Exploitation: A person commits the crime of financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person if such person knowingly and by deception, intimidation, or force obtains control over the elderly or disabled person's property with the intent to permanently deprive the elderly or disabled person of the use, benefit or possession of his or her property thereby benefiting such person or detrimentally affecting the elderly or disabled person.

Example: A family member comes to live with Mom or Dad and starts to deplete their life savings because of a drug problem and at the same time blames or threatens the victim by making them think that bad things will happen if they do not agree to continue.

Example: A "sudden friend" is stopping by on a regular basis and at the same time asking to borrow money or offers to do favors in return for money.

Example: A hired caregiver who demands or encourages tipping. All reputable agencies forbid this.

Example: Grandma thinks she's won the lottery and insists the $5000.00 check she'll get from London will come as soon as she wires them $2000.00 to release the funds from the overseas bank. Soon she gets a call saying she's won 20,000. but just needs to wire another $5,000 to release the funds. Alas! A check comes in the mail to prove she's right! Sadly, that check is a fraud and the criminals have wiped out all of her life savings. The elderly are often targets for this scam. This is more complicated and the FBI may need to get involved because it's almost impossible to name the criminal in this case and it most often generates from a foreign country.
Beware of internet scams. Don't be too quick to set up the internet for Mom or Dad unless you can teach them about all the online scams to watch out for and set up a virus program with a firewall.

Neglect: The failure to provide services to an eligible adult by any person, firm or corporation with a legal or contractual duty to do so, when such failure presents either an imminent danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the client or a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm would result.

Example: A family member who knows Mom or Dad has Alzheimer's but refuses to get the proper supervision and care. Often times this could result in the victim overdosing on meds, not taking the meds, forgetting to eat or take care of herself properly, and leaving the stove on or wandering out and getting lost.

It's important to know that if you report abuse to the proper authorities your identity is protected. The number for the Elder Abuse and Neglect Hotline is 800-392-0210 and it operates 24 hours per day, 365 days per year and is staffed by Social Service Workers. This is for any person who is 60 years of age or older.

If any of you are thinking of hiring a private caregiver please be aware that the majority are not insured and bonded and you are putting yourself at risk by not having a professional criminal screening done on them. Beckwith adds, "We suggest always using a reputable home health care agency such as Home Helpers, but we understand that many people will still want to use a private caregiver. We would be happy to run a criminal background check on that person for you or tell you how to go about getting one by calling our office at 314-961-1002 or 636-391-0000."