June is Elder Abuse Awareness Month and June 15th is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Elder Abuse Awareness Month is important because it gives us the opportunity to learn about elder abuse and how we can support those in our community who may be experiencing abuse. According to the California Department of Aging, elder abuse rates in California are rising, with more than 200,000 elder and dependent adult abuse cases reported in the state annually.[1] Given that elder abuse is highly underreported, it’s likely that many more elders are experiencing abuse in silence.
In California, an elder is defined as someone age 65 and older. There are many different types of elder abuse. Elder abuse includes the following forms of abuse:
- Physical abuse – includes inappropriate restraint, deprivation of food or water, and medication misuse
- Sexual abuse – meaning any nonconsensual sexual activity
- Mental or emotional abuse – includes harassment and intimidation that causes emotional distress or fear (name calling, threats to “put a person in a home”)
- Neglect – includes a caregiver failing to provide the services or things the person in their care needs to avoid harm or suffering, such as providing food, help with dressing, toileting, providing medication.
- Abandonment
- Kidnapping
- Isolation – meaning systemic exclusion of outside contact by preventing an elder from receiving phone calls, mail, or visitors, false imprisonment, and physically restraining an elder to prevent them from meeting with visitors
- Financial abuse – wrongfully take an elder’s property or assets, including stealing from an elder, scams, and fraud
If you are experiencing elder abuse, there are organizations who want to help you. Contra Costa’s Elder Abuse Prevention Project is a partnership of organizations dedicated to assisting survivors of abuse and helping those survivors access resources. Elders experiencing abuse can contact Contra Costa Senior Legal Services by calling (925) 609-7900 for assistance. Suspected abuse can also be reported to Adult Protective Services by calling 1 (800) 510-2020 or (925) 229-8434.
[1] https://aging.ca.gov/Aging_Resources/Elder_Abuse_How_to_Spot_and_Help/