The purpose of this research paper is to identify issues relevant to the problem of elder neglect and abuse in the United States. This is a problem, according to Tatara (2000), which impacts upon approximately 3.2 percent of elderly Americans (about 701,000 to 1.1 million elders). However, while these estimates are based upon sound empirical research, Tatara (2000) points out that the true incidence and prevalence of elder abuse and neglect in the United States is not known and that incidence and prevalence research in this field is an emerging discipline. The topic is therefore of significance for policymakers, medical caregivers, and social workers alike.
Section 102 of the Older Americans Act (OAA) defines abuse as:
The willful affliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or cruel punishment with resulting physical harm or pain or mental anguish; or deprivation by a caretaker of goods or services that are necessary to avoid physical harm, mental anguish, or mental illness (Tatara, 2000, p. 834).
Neglect is defined by the OAA as a failure to provide for oneself the goods or services necessary to avoid physical harm, mental anguish or mental illness or the failure of a caretaker to provide such goods and/or services. The OAA defines exploitation as the "illegal or improper act or process of a caretaker using the resources of an older individual for monetary or personal benefit, profit, or gain" (Tatara, 2000, p. 834).
Summary of the Problem
Elder mistreatment, according to Sidovsky (1999), is often poorly understood and misdiagnosed by physicians, who too often attribute the medical consequences of abuse or neglect to aging or underlying disease. Elder mistreatment is a widespread societal problem that has become the focus of legislative and policy initiatives over the past two decades as a result of growing public outcry (Swagery, 1999).
The problem is s...