Elder Abuse

Course overview

This course explores the hidden nature of elder mistreatment. Other forms of domestic abuse, such as child abuse and neglect and spousal abuse, have been recognized for over 30 years, but it is within only approximately 15 years that the mistreatment of elderly family members has come to the attention of the public and professional groups. Case histories are provided highlighting common aspects of elder mistreatment: a combination of physical and financial abuse and medical neglect. Findings from the several phases of research are described. The first phase consisted mainly of exploratory studies that confirmed that existence of elder mistreatment. The second phase focuses interests to characteristics of abusers, with abuser dependency, not elder dependency, surfacing as a significant contributor to elder mistreatment. Pioneering studies on elder mistreatment in nursing facilities , within the relationship between caregiver and impaired elder, and among several ethnic groups are dominant activities in the last few years.