Causes of Elder Abuse
Two factors that increase the risk of elder abuse are the stress on the caregiver and the vulnerability of an aging person. A person’s dependence on their caregiver, whether that is in their home or in a facility, the lack of knowledge about how to seek help and fear of retaliation for reporting are common reasons why the elderly do not report abuse. The leads to much higher level of elder abuse than are reflected in official statistics, similar to child abuse. Image: Elderly person. Authored by: rawpixel. Source: https://pixabay.com/en/people-adult-indoors-care-diagnose-3167294/. License: CC-0
Two types of factors increase the risk of elder abuse. The first stems from the increased vulnerability of the aging person; the second stems from the stress of the caregiver. According to Hildreth, Burke, and Golub (2011), some risk factors on the part of the elderly include the following:
• Declining health, including memory problems (such as dementia), physical disabilities, and mental health issues such as depression
• Lack of social supports to help with care or to detect abuse by others • Abuse of alcohol or other substances • A tendency to be verbally or physically combative with the caregivers • A shared living situation, especially living with their caregiver