Wednesday, June 13, 2018

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and Reaching Out to Socially Isolated Older Adults

June 15th is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day - the National Council on Aging is working to raise awareness about the different kinds of abuse that older adults experience.

Most cases of elder abuse are unreported and untreated. A report on elder mistreatment from the National Institutes of Health estimates that only 1 in 14 cases of elder abuse are reported. That's less that 10%.

Lately, I have been interviewing service providers in my area who work with older adults, and they are confirming what we see in the literature about elder abuse.  That the most prominent factors that put seniors at risk of abuse are social isolation and mental impairments like dementia.

Nationally, in about half of reported incidents of elder abuse and neglect, the person responsible for the abuse is a family member, usually a spouse or adult child. The research also indicates that the abusing party is often the only source of care or support the victim has, and so they are reluctant to tell anyone what is happening, for fear that the will lose that relationship and end up completely alone or in a nursing home.  This is certainly what my interviews are reporting so far.

So, how do we identify older adults around us who are socially isolated, and how do we break that isolation?  The National Council on Aging suggests 4 steps:

1. increase communication with isolated older adults - if they are family, reach out to them more than you have been; if they are neighbors, make an effort to get to know them, invite them out for coffee or a meal, or ask if you can help them with yard work or accompany them on a walk; engage other neighbors in reaching out to them as well

2. offer to accompany them to social activities at a local church or senior center

3. explore their interests and hobbies - are they a gardener? maybe you can ask their advice about your garden or invite them to help pick out plants for you at a local garden center; are they a reader? you can ask them to join a book club with you;

4. help them identify opportunities for support whenever they need it - if they are online, they can access a support community through Mental Health America; if the prefer talking on the phone, give them the number for The Friendship Line: 1-800-971-0016. This is a nationwide 24/7 warmline and also a crisis intervention hotline, that specifically serves older adults or adults living with disabilities.  They also reach out to their callers on a regular basis, to monitor their health and well being.

In addition to these ideas, you may want to reach out to the person or persons who are caring for an isolated older adult. Sometimes they are just as isolated, and it is that stress and isolation that can lead to some kinds of elder abuse.

If they are family, what can you do to assist them in caregiving? Are there ways you can offer them respite, or time off from their caregiving responsibilities? Can you stay with the older adult while they take time for themselves or run personal errands? Is there a way to help them take a vacation? Can you connect them with services through your local Office or Aging or Alzheimer's Association chapter? Perhaps they would benefit from learning about challenges faced by other caregivers - this can be accomplished by attending a caregiver support group relevant to their loved one's condition, or they could access online resources like Caregiver Matters of CNY, where I provide links to articles and resources related to caregiving, or videos about issues faced by caregivers.

If they are not family, perhaps you can introduce yourself to them as a neighborly resource, interested in helping them and their loved one. Offer to put some of the above ideas in place for their loved one, or ask them if there is anything specific that you can do for them. Maybe you can help with mowing the lawn or shoveling their snow; perhaps you can offer to check in on grocery days to see if they need anything from the store. After establishing trust by proving yourself to be reliable and consistently engaged, you may be able to offer them opportunities for respite as well.

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