WUNRN
ELDER ABUSE WHO FACT SHEET – MILLIONS OF ELDERLY
REGULARLY ABUSED – OLDER WOMEN
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VIOLENCE
AGAINST OLDER WOMEN IN NURSING HOMES
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World Health Organization - WHO
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs357/en/
Elder Abuse – Fact
Sheet – Older Women
Updated December
2014
Key facts
Elder abuse is a
single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any
relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or
distress to an older person. This type of violence constitutes a violation of
human rights and includes physical, sexual, psychological, emotional; financial
and material abuse; abandonment; neglect; and serious loss of dignity and
respect.
Scope of the
problem
Abuse of elderly
people is an important public health problem. While there is little information
regarding the extent of abuse in elderly populations, especially in developing
countries, it is estimated that 4-6% of elderly people report significant abuse
in the last month. However, older people are often afraid to report cases of
abuse to family, friends, or to the authorities.
Data on the extent
of the problem in institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and other
long-term care facilities are scarce. A survey of nursing-home staff in the
United States of America, however, suggests rates may be high:
There is even less
data on elder abuse in institutional settings in developing countries.
Abusive acts in
institutions include physically restraining patients, depriving them of dignity
(by for instance leaving them in soiled clothes) and choice over daily affairs,
intentionally providing insufficient care (such as allowing them to develop
pressure sores), over- and under-medicating and withholding medication from
patients; and emotional neglect and abuse.
Elder abuse can
lead to physical injuries – ranging from minor scratches and bruises to broken
bones and head injuries leading to lasting disabilities – and serious,
sometimes long-lasting, psychological consequences, including depression and
anxiety. For older people, the consequences of abuse can be especially serious
because their bones are more brittle and convalescence is longer. Even
relatively minor injuries can cause serious and permanent damage, or even
death.
Globally, the
number of cases of elder abuse is projected to increase as many countries have
rapidly ageing populations whose needs may not be fully met due to resource
constraints. It is predicted that by the year 2025, the global population of
people aged 60 years and older will more than double, from 542 million in 1995
to about 1.2 billion.
Risk factors
Risk factors that
may increase the potential for abuse of an older person can be identified at
individual, relationship, community, and socio-cultural levels.
Individual
Risks at the
individual level include dementia of the victim, and mental disorders and
alcohol and substance abuse in the abuser. Other individual-level factors which
may increase the risk of abuse include gender of victim and a shared living
situation. While older men have the same risk of abuse as women, in some
cultures where women have inferior social status, elderly women are at higher
risk of neglect through abandonment when they are widowed and their property is
seized. Women may also be at higher risk of more persistent and severe forms of
abuse and injury.
Relationship
A shared living
situation is a risk factor for elder abuse. It is not yet clear whether spouses
or adult children of older people are more likely to perpetrate abuse. An
abuser's dependency on the older person (often financial) also increases the
risk of abuse. In some cases, a long history of poor family relationships may
worsen as a result of stress and frustration as the older person becomes more
dependent. Finally, as more women enter the workforce and have less spare time,
caring for older people becomes a greater burden, increasing the risk of abuse.
Community
Social isolation
of caregivers and older persons, and the ensuing lack of social support, is a
significant risk factor for elder abuse by care-givers. Many elderly people are
isolated because of physical or mental infirmities, or through the loss of
friends and family members.
Socio-cultural
Socio-cultural
factors that may affect the risk of elder abuse include:
Within
institutions, abuse is more likely to occur where:
Prevention
Many strategies
have been implemented to prevent elder abuse and to take action against it and
mitigate its consequences. Interventions that have been implemented – mainly in
high-income countries – to prevent abuse include:
Efforts to respond
to and prevent further abuse include interventions such as:
Evidence for the
effectiveness of most of these interventions is limited at present. However,
caregiver support after abuse has occurred reduces the likelihood of its
reoccurrence and school-based intergeneration programmes (to decrease negative
societal attitudes and stereotypes towards older people) have shown some
promise, as have caregiver support to prevent elder abuse before it occurs and
professional awareness of the problem. Evidence suggests that adult protective
services and home visitation by police and social workers for victims of elder
abuse may in fact have adverse consequences, increasing elder abuse.
Multiple sectors
can contribute to reducing elder abuse, including:
In some countries,
the health sector has taken a leading role in raising public concern about
elder abuse, while in others the social welfare sector has taken the lead.
Globally, too
little is known about elder abuse and how to prevent it, particularly in
developing countries. The scope and nature of the problem is only beginning to
be delineated, many risk factors remain contested, and the evidence for what
works to prevent elder abuse is limited.
WHO response
WHO and partners
collaborate to prevent elder abuse through initiatives that help to identify,
quantify and respond to the problem, including:
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http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsId=49573#.VIliHXluhMs
MILLIONS OF ELDERLY ABUSED EVERY MONTH – ELDERLY WOMEN
10 December 2014 – Millions of elderly people report
significant abuse each month, “an important public health problem” expected to
increase in many countries as the number of people aged 60 and older is
forecasted to reach about 1.2 billion by the year 2025, the World Health
Organization reported today.
“Abusive acts in institutions include physically
restraining patients, depriving them of dignity (by for instance leaving them
in soiled clothes) and choice over daily affairs, intentionally providing
insufficient care (such as allowing them to develop pressure sores), over- and
under-medicating and withholding medication from patients; and emotional
neglect and abuse,” WHO said in a fact sheet
released today.
“While there is little information regarding the extent
of abuse in elderly populations, especially in developing countries, it is
estimated that 4-6 per cent of elderly people report significant abuse in the
last month,” according to the UN health agency.
That figure translates into the tens of millions and is
predicted to increase as many countries experience rapidly ageing populations.
The number of people worldwide aged 60 years and older will more than double,
from 542 million in 1995 to about 1.2 billion in 2025.
“Older people are often afraid to report cases of abuse
to family, friends, or to the authorities,” according to WHO.
WHO also noted that data on the extent of the problem in
institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and other long-term care
facilities are scarce.
“A survey of nursing-home staff in the United States of
America, however, suggests rates may be high: 36 per cent witnessed at least
one incident of physical abuse of an elderly patient in the previous year; 10
per cent committed at least one act of physical abuse towards an elderly
patient,” WHO said. In addition, 40 per cent admitted to psychologically
abusing patients, the same survey showed.
And The Global
Status Report on Violence Prevention 2014, the first survey of its
kind, which was released today and assessed national efforts to address
interpersonal violence including elder abuse, noted that less than half of the
133 surveyed countries reported plans to address elder abuse (41 per cent).
WHO defined elder abuse as “a single or repeated act, or
lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an
expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person.”
And “the consequences of abuse can be especially serious
because their bones are more brittle and convalescence is longer.”
“While older men have the same risk of abuse as women, in
some cultures where women have inferior social status, elderly women are at
higher risk of neglect through abandonment when they are widowed and their
property is seized,” according to the fact sheet. “Women may also be at higher
risk of more persistent and severe forms of abuse and injury.”
WHO drew attention to the fact that “too little is known
about elder abuse and how to prevent it, particularly in developing countries.
The scope and nature of the problem is only beginning to be delineated, many
risk factors remain contested, and the evidence for what works to prevent elder
abuse is limited.”