What is Adult Abuse?

Adult abuse, which involves intentional harm to someone over the age of 60, is sometimes referred to as older adult abuse, elder person abuse, or vulnerable adult abuse. This could be by intentionally inflicting physical or emotional pain, neglecting, or financial exploitation. The abuse causes serious risk and harm.

Abuse can occur anywhere and to anyone. In most cases, those closest to a vulnerable adult are the abusers. If you or a loved one are experiencing abuse, contact local authorities and/or adult protective services.

What are the types of adult abuse?

There are several types of abuse against older adults:

1. Physical Abuse: This happens when someone hurts another person physically. Examples include pushing, hitting, slapping, or holding someone against their will. Physical abuse can cause pain and injuries.
2. Sexual Abuse: This involves forcing someone into sexual activity or making them watch sexual acts they do not want to see.
3. Neglect: Neglect is deliberately withholding a person's basic physical, emotional, or social needs. This includes denying a person food, shelter, medical treatment, or medication. Another form of neglect is self-neglect. This occurs when a person is unable to meet his or her physical or mental demands independently.
4. Financial Abuse: Theft of money or property from another person is called financial abuse. The following are some examples:

• Check forgery
• Forging checks
• Using someone else's credit cards without permission
• Taking benefits, like Social Security, and using them for yourself
• Pressuring or convincing vulnerable people to give away their things.

5. Emotional Abuse: Emotional abuse occurs when someone who is supposed to care for someone yells at them, threatens them, instills fear in them, or ignores them in a harmful way. This type of abuse can include verbal harassment, humiliation, or intimidation.
6. Abandonment: Abandonment occurs when a vulnerable person who requires assistance is left behind without any form of care from their appointed caregiver.

It is common for a vulnerable person to suffer more than one form of abuse.

What are the signs of an adult abused?

Some signs that an elderly person has been abused include burns, bruises, cuts or scratches, scars, and unexplained bed sores (bone fractures).

• A dislike of isolation or routine activities.
• Sleeping problems.
• Depression or agitation.
• Unexplained loss of weight.
• Weakness
• Someone is unable to access their usual medical equipment, such as glasses, a walker, hearing aids, or other assistive devices.
• Living in unsafe or unhygienic conditions.
• Sudden, unexplained changes to someone's financial situation.
• Worsening medical conditions that cause someone to frequently visit the emergency room or be in the hospital.

Who is at risk of adult abuse?

Elder abuse can affect anyone, regardless of race, gender, culture, or socioeconomic status. Individuals at risk of abuse by vulnerable adults may include:

• Those above 60 years.
• Patients with an underlying medical condition that impacts their mobility, mental capacity, or one of the senses.
• Require support in managing themselves or residing in a caring community.
• Lack of a family or network of supportive persons around them.

Female or female-identified persons are disproportionately victims of abuse compared with male or male-identified persons. Additionally, persons diagnosed with dementia are at higher risk of abuse due to their failure to recognize abuse or inability to report abuse.

Where does adult abuse happen?

Abuse of older adults can occur anywhere. Some of the most common places where abuse occurs include:

• An individual's residence.
• A group residence.
• A care or assisted living setting.

What are the consequences of adult abuse?

Anxiety and depression are among the short- and long-term impacts of elder abuse on a person's physical and mental well-being.

• Fear or a lack of faith in others.
• Stress.
• Physical harm that may be incapacitating.
• Life-threatening complications can arise from untreated or poorly managed medical diseases.

How can I prevent adult abuse?

Some strategies to prevent elder abuse may include:

• Prepare legal paperwork with a trusted person, such as your healthcare power of attorney and will.
• Visit or contact at-risk friends and relatives frequently.
• Use direct deposit instead of checks.
• Maintain a log of all financial transactions and report any unusual activity.
• Never give out personal information over the phone.

The best way to prevent abuse is education. When you know the signs and risk factors for abuse (and the effects abuse can have on a person), you can take action when it happens.

Is it acceptable to refer to abuse of an older person as "elderly abuse"?

Adult abuse can best be described as "abuse of older adults", "abuse of older people" or "abuse of a vulnerable adult". When used to describe humans, terms such as "elderly" have a negative connotation. People over the age of 60 are most susceptible to this type of abuse, although not all people in this age group consider themselves "old". Age-defying language can sometimes offend someone. If you are unsure of the preferred phrase, you can refer to the incident as "abuse". Report the abuse immediately, no matter what term or phrase the victim prefers.

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