Verbal forms of emotional elder abuse include


 Intimidation through yelling or threats  Humiliation and ridicule  Habitual blaming or scapegoating


Nonverbal psychological elder abuse can take the form of


 Ignoring the elderly person  Isolating an elder from friends or activities  Terrorizing or menacing the elderly person


Sexual elder abuse is contact with an elderly person without the elder’s consent. Such con- tact can involve physical sex acts, but activi- ties such as showing an elderly person porno- graphic material, forcing the person to watch sex acts, or forcing the elder to undress are also considered sexual elder abuse.


Elder neglect, failure to fulfill a caretaking ob- ligation, constitutes more than half of all re- ported cases of elder abuse. It can be inten- tional or unintentional, based on factors such as ignorance or denial that an elderly charge needs as much care as he or she does.


This involves unauthorized use of an elderly person’s funds or property, either by a care- giver or an outside scam artist.


An unscrupulous caregiver might


 Misuse an elder’s personal checks, credit cards, or accounts


 Steal cash, income checks, or household goods


 Forge the elder’s signature  Engage in identity theft


Typical rackets that target elders include


 Announcements of a “prize” that the elder- ly person has won but must pay money to claim


 Phony charities  Investment fraud


Carried out by unethical doctors, nurses, hospital personnel, and other professional care providers, examples of healthcare fraud and abuse regarding elders include


 Not providing healthcare, but charging for it


 Overcharging or double-billing for medi- cal care or services


 Getting kickbacks for referrals to other providers or for prescribing certain drugs


 Overmedicating or under medicating  Recommending fraudulent remedies for illnesses or other medical conditions


 Medicaid fraud


SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF ELDER ABUSE


At first, you might not recognize or take seriously signs of elder abuse. They may appear to be symptoms of dementia or signs of the elderly person’s frailty—or caregivers may explain them to you that way. In fact, many of the signs and symp- toms of elder abuse do overlap with symptoms of mental deterioration, but that doesn’t mean you should dismiss them on the caregiver’s say-so.


 Unexplained signs of injury such as bruises, welts, or scars, especially if they appear symmetrically on two side of the body


 Broken bones, sprains, or dislocations  Report of drug overdose or apparent failure to take medication regularly (a prescription has more remaining than it should)


 Broken eyeglasses or frames  Signs of being restrained, such as rope marks on wrists


 Caregiver’s refusal to allow you to see the elder alone.


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