NCJ Number
150574
Date Published
1990
Length
68 pages
Annotation
This 1990 Congressional hearing held in Cleveland focused on the nature and extent of abuse of the elderly and on proposed Federal and State programs to prevent, recognize, and treat this problem.
Abstract
Speakers included victims, local and government officials, a physician, and representatives of nonprofit organizations. The Members of Congress present noted that the first national study of abuse of the elderly was completed in 1980. A 1981 report noted that more than a million individuals are physically, financially, and emotionally abused by relatives or other caregivers. Family members are often the victimizers. Proposed Federal legislation would establish a national center to publish and disseminate information about problems and programs to address them, provide State grants, and grant immunity to people who report elder abuse. Victims described physical, verbal, and financial abuse. One victim experienced serious neglect in the nursing home in which he lived. The director of a county human services agency noted two features often found in these cases: mental illness or other mental incapacitation in the perpetrator and the perpetrator's dependence on the victim for housing or financial support. A physician who is director of emergency medicine at an Ohio hospital noted that detecting elder abuse is difficult and that much abuse is preventable through early intervention, education, medical management techniques, and an accountable and responsible mechanism of preventive medicine. The director of an organization providing alcohol and drug treatment explained the relationship between addiction and elder abuse and recommended improved education of the public, caregivers, the older population, and people in the helping professions on these issues. Copies of written testimony