Each year on or around June 15, communities and municipalities around the world plan activities and programs to recognize World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, a day set aside to spread awareness of the ab

Discussion 2: Elder Abuse

Each year on or around June 15, communities and municipalities around the world plan activities and programs to recognize World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, a day set aside to spread awareness of the abuse of the elderly (Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse & Neglect, 2013). The abuse of older adults is a growing concern and statistics suggest that the number of elders experiencing abuse is an alarmingly high number. Research suggests that close to half the people diagnosed with dementia experience some form of abuse (Cooper, C., Selwood, A., Blanchard, M., Walker, Z., Blizard, R., & Livingston, G., 2009; Wiglesworth, A., Mosqueda, L., Mulnard, R., Liao, S., Gibbs, L., & Fitzgerald, W., 2010, as cited on http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/Library/Data/index.aspx). Elder abuse takes on many forms and can include physical, emotional, psychological, and economic abuse. The legendary American actor, Mickey Rooney, spoke to the United States Senate, describing his own experiences of pain and neglect at the hands of his stepson, asking legislators to take seriously the abuse of the elderly.

For this Discussion, go to the Walden Library and find a scholarly article that presents some of the most important psychosocial issues related to elder abuse.

Respond to colleagues by suggesting alternative strategies.

Support your responses with specific references to the Learning Resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

The following are the Colleague Original Post to which require responses

Kelsi B

RE: Discussion 2 - Week 6

COLLAPSE

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Hello Class,

Article: New Allianz Life Study Confirms Elder Financial Abuse Under-reported and Misunderstood; Problem Likely to Grow.

In the article by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, elder financial abuse remains an under-reported and misunderstood issue, which will likely get worse as America’s population ages (Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America., 2014). It is understood that with an individual aging, their wealth and decreasing mental capacity, are factors that make elders a target for financial abuse (Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America., 2014). With advancing technology, elders are also being scammed through phone calls and websites. Elders are also being financially abused by family members, friends, caregivers, and strangers.

To help reinforce the importance of preventing and assessing elder abuse, Allianz Life Insurance Company created programs and materials to educate other professionals (Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America., 2014). Not only did they educate themselves and other professionals, Allianz Life Insurance Company paired with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to educate the public.

An intervention to be used on a micro level would be educating the elderly individuals directly about their safety and potential scam risks. This includes educating them on new ways scammers use technology to steal information and money from them. On a mezzo and macro level, advocacy is a huge component to bringing awareness of types of elder abuse. Not everyone is aware of the types of abuse elders endure.

Reference:

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. (10AD, Autumn 2014). New Allianz Life Study Confirms Elder Financial Abuse Under-reported and Misunderstood; Problem Likely to Grow. Business Wire (English). Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=bizwire.c57934724&site=eds-live&scope=site

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alicia r

RE: Discussion 2 - Week 6

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Hello Class,

How does the article reinforce the importance of assessing potential abuse and neglect when working with the elderly?

The article, Residents’ experiences of interpersonal factors in nursing home care: A qualitative study, discuss the importance of quality care in a nursing home environment to promote wellness and to ease distress. Regarding elderly abuse, it could be more than just physical abuse than can trigger the psychosocial issues within the elderly population. The reason for this selection is based of the many media reports that relates to nursing homes and their lack of care for the elderly population. I know a lot of elderly people who have been neglected by their family member.

This article discusses the importance of quality care for healthy development in a nursing home. According to the article, nurses play an important role in the psychosocial well-being of the elderly in a nursing home facility (Nakrem, Vinsnes, & Seim, 2011). The way the nurses interact with the residents can negatively or positively affect the elderly residents. When an elderly person enters a nursing facility, many of them give up their home, which results in them losing their privacy, lack self-determination, and some most depend on nursing home staff. This can cause some individuals to become angry, depressed and lose meaning of life.

Based on the article, it is important to monitor the residents from abuse and neglect for many reasons. Abuse and neglect often lead to a decline in functioning including death.

Describe prevention and/or intervention strategies on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels that can be used to address the issue of abuse and neglect of the elderly.

Having assess to social activities, giving residents their medication on-time, and allowing self-determination when appropriate, helps to prevent abuse and neglect by ensuring that the residents are not excluded or neglected, pain-free, and able to make choices. Several residents from the article stated, they felt respected by nurses and nurses were tentative to their individuals needs which promotes positive coping. To prevent elderly abuse on the microlevel, I would try to find out about the elderly person and their relationship with their family to ensure supports are in place for advocacy and support.

References

Nakrem, S., Vinsnes, A. G., & Seim, A. (2011). Residents’ experiences of interpersonal factors in nursing home care: A qualitative study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 48(11),1357-1366.

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Maralyce Taylor

RE: Discussion 2 - Week 6

COLLAPSE

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Post a summary of the article you found.
The article, Risk factors for elder abuse and neglect: A review of the literature, discusses how elder abuse is a global problem that is gaining recognition due to the severe impact on victims and the aging population (Storey, 2020). Some components that constitute elder abuse are a single or repeated act of commission or omission, occurs within a relationship of trust, and causes harm or distress to an older person (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). Elder abuse can happen in these five forms: physical abuse, psychological/emotional abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse, and neglect (Storey, 2020). Risk factors can be a range of psychological, social, biological, and economic issues (Storey, 2020).

How does the article reinforce the importance of assessing potential abuse and neglect when working with the elderly?
To reinforce the importance of assessing potential abuse and neglect, this article showed the problems that our elders face. As social workers, we have to be aware of the abuse and neglect that we cannot see with our eye. Storey, (2020), stated that we have to stay aware of the problems related to mental health, substance use, how the elders are dealing with stress and coping while also paying attention to possible physical abuse and neglect.

Describe prevention and/or intervention strategies on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels that can be used to address the issue of abuse and neglect of the elderly.
The Elder Abuse Risk Assessment and Evaluation tool (EARAE) is an excellent tool to use as it identifies changes in risk and tracks interventions and outcomes from the initial meeting with a service agency until the case is closed (Storey, 2020). This tool would be useful to use on the micro-level as the service agency, or social worker has already been working with the elder client and can use EARAE to visualize and track interventions and outcomes.

Reference
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Elder abuse surveillance: Uniform definitions and recommended core data elements, version 1.0. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/ea_book_revised_2016.pdf

Storey, J. E. (2020). Risk factors for elder abuse and neglect: A review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 50. https://doi:10.1016/j.avb.2019.101339

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