How to handle cases of abuse towards seniors

I can never write about this topic without recalling what happened to my own mother in her Cater Circle home right here in “Peaceful Perry” several years ago. Two teenage boys came to her door. When she answered, they pushed in the door, ripped the phone lines from the walls, demanded her purse, threw her in the bathtub and stole her car. When mom finally came to her senses, she was able to walk next door to Granny Ellis’s house, where they called the police.

We are blessed with a relatively peaceful community here in middle Georgia, but we’re not immune to violence and abuse toward seniors.

Who commits these heinous crimes? Strangely enough, adult children are some of the most common perpetrators of family violence against seniors, followed by current or previous spouses.

Some time ago at Visiting Angels©, we took on a new client who was homeless because her grown son scammed her out of her metro Atlanta home using a refinance tactic and her daughter left her carless when she made off with her mom’s car. Imagine being left destitute like that by your own children! Unfortunately, “relationship crimes” are more common than you would think.

The Tip of the Iceberg
All the reports of elder abuse recorded by authorities every year (the vast majority of which are proven to be true) are only the tip of the iceberg. According to data from different states, for every case of elder abuse reported, another 12 or 13 are not. Why? Several reasons, including:
•fear of being sent to a nursing home
•fear of reprisal
•lack of awareness about what help is available and where to go for help
•shame of having raised an abusive child
•fear of not being believed
•nowhere to go
•fear of being denied access to grandchildren
•fear of being rejected by family
•intense family loyalty

What to do if you suspect senior abuse in your circle of friends?

First of all, be alert to ANY suspicious activity, behavior or comments that involve the seniors in your life. Don’t be naïve. Remember what the Bible says in Jeremiah 17: 9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”

How to report suspected elder abuse
States differ on who is required to report suspected elder abuse (there’s no federal standard), though the categories of mandatory reporters are expanding. Typically, medical personnel, nursing home workers, peace officers, emergency personnel, public officials, social workers, counselors and clergy are listed as mandatory reporters, and that responsibility is spreading to financial institutions and other entities that work with seniors.
The first agency to respond to a report of elderly abuse, in most states, is Adult Protective Services (APS). Its role is to investigate abuse cases, intervene, and offer services and advice. Its toll-free hotline in Georgia is: 1-888-774-0152.

Stay alert for your seniors. Let’s make Violence Against Seniors a shrinking threat in our community.
See you next week!

Bill Milby, CSA, is a certified senior advisor and a director of Visiting Angels® of Macon, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsMacon

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