Elder Abuse/ Neglect And Exploitation Assignment Discussion

Elder Abuse/ Neglect And Exploitation Assignment Discussion

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Elderly senior citizens are known to suffer from a lot of health problems. These usually include physical as well as mental health problems. For these reasons, they normally require caregivers who are committed to assisting them. The assistance is concerned mainly with activities of daily living (ADLs) as well as safety. An elderly person is commonly viewed as someone who is 65 years old and above (Guirguis-Blake et al., 2018) Elder Abuse/ Neglect And Exploitation Assignment Discussion. At this stage, multiple comorbidities such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and osteoarthritis are common and coexisting (Kennedy-Malone et al., 2019). Caregivers are usually family members, but can also be non-relative persons engaged to provide care. If care is not possible at home, these elderly citizens are usually placed in aged care facilities or nursing homes. Unfortunately, it has been known that some of the caregivers (relatives and non-relatives alike) sometimes abuse these senior citizens. This paper is a reflection on this subject of elder abuse and neglect.

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Thoughts on Abuse/ Neglect and Exploitation of the Elderly

The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that every year in the United States, between 700,000 and 3.5 million older persons are mistreated or neglected.  Fourteen cases go unreported for every one that is disclosed (Elder Source, 2023) Elder Abuse/ Neglect And Exploitation Assignment Discussion. Ethically and morally, it is never acceptable for anyone to abuse the elderly. This is especially true of caregivers who have been entrusted with assisting these elderly persons to live a comfortable life.

I agree that sometimes it can be quite frustrating to a caregiver when they perform their duties. This is usually more often than not related to the fact that many elderly persons are also cognitively impaired as a result of suffering neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia (APA, 2022). These disorders (such as Alzheimer’s disease) usually cause these elderly individuals to be spatially disoriented, suffer from amnesia, wander about aimlessly, be unable to learn, have language and speech difficulties, and be unable to feed themselves as well as perform other ADLs.

The frustrations brought about by the cognitive impairments stated above are however not a reason for caregivers and other persons to mistreat their elderly subjects. It is not just morally and ethically wrong; but also legally unacceptable. This is why abuse and neglect of the elderly is a reportable finding for healthcare professionals in many states (NI Direct, n.d.) Elder Abuse/ Neglect And Exploitation Assignment Discussion. The abuse can take many forms such as physical abuse, emotional abuse, or sexual abuse. Other forms are financial exploitation and neglect.

Experience in Practice and Actions to Take

Indeed I have seen neglect and elderly abuse in practice in a variety of settings. I have seen colleagues who think that the elderly who are cognitively impaired and physically living with several comorbidities are lesser patients. I have seen them ignoring them; treating them as though they do not have feelings, and blatantly handling them roughly in physical terms. In such situations I have taken such colleagues aside and reasoned with them that these are also patients like any other and they understand what is being done to them, even if they cannot voice it. At a personal level and as a clinician, I have from time to time handled elderly patients with telltale signs of abuse and neglect. In these instances, I have reported the matter to the relevant authorities as required for further legal action.

 Available Community Resources for Elder Abuse/ Neglect and Exploitation

There are a number of community resources available for referral if elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation are suspected. According to Elder Source (2023), some of these resources are:  Elder Abuse/ Neglect And Exploitation Assignment Discussion

• Hotlines in each of the states.
• The National Center on Elder Abuse.
• The National Council on Aging Elder Abuse Facts.

Conclusion

Elder abuse and neglect as well as exploitation are morally, ethically, and legally unacceptable. These include physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse. Neglect and financial exploitation are also part of this. In many states, healthcare workers are mandated to report cases of abuse and neglect that they encounter. There are also a number of community resources available to help with cases of elder abuse/ neglect and exploitation.

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References

American Psychiatric Association [APA] (2022). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), 5^th ed. Author.

Elder Source (2023). Elder abuse prevention. Elder Abuse Prevention | ElderSource (myeldersource.org)

Guirguis-Blake, J., Michael, Y., Perdue, L., Coppola, E., & Beil, T. (2018). Interventions to prevent falls in older adults. JAMA, 319(16), 1705. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.21962

Kennedy-Malone, L., Plank, L.M., & Duffy, E.G. (2019). Advanced practice nursing in the care of older adults, 2^nd ed. Davis Company.

NI Direct (n.d.). Recognising adult abuse, exploitation and neglect. Recognizing adult abuse, exploitation and neglect | indirect   Elder Abuse/ Neglect And Exploitation Assignment Discussion