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Guest Speaker Reflection Abuse And Exploited Essay Assignment
Elder Abuse/ Neglect and Exploitation
Elderly senior citizens are known to suffer from a lot of health problems. These usually include physical as well as mental health problems. For these reasons, they normally require caregivers who are committed to assisting them. The assistance is concerned mainly with activities of daily living (ADLs) as well as safety. An elderly person is commonly viewed as someone who is 65 years old and above (Guirguis-Blake et al., 2018). At this stage, multiple comorbidities such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and osteoarthritis are common and coexisting (Kennedy-Malone et al., 2019). Caregivers are usually family members, but can also be non-relative persons engaged to provide care. If care is not possible at home, these elderly citizens are usually placed in aged care facilities or nursing homes. Unfortunately, it has been known that some of the caregivers (relatives and non-relatives alike) sometimes abuse these senior citizens. This paper is a reflection on this subject of elder abuse and neglect Guest Speaker Reflection Abuse And Exploited Essay Assignment.
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Thoughts on Abuse/ Neglect and Exploitation of the Elderly
The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that every year in the United States, between 700,000 and 3.5 million older persons are mistreated or neglected. Fourteen cases go unreported for every one that is disclosed (Elder Source, 2023). Ethically and morally, it is never acceptable for anyone to abuse the elderly. This is especially true of caregivers who have been entrusted with assisting these elderly persons to live a comfortable life.
I agree that sometimes it can be quite frustrating to a caregiver when they perform their duties. This is usually more often than not related to the fact that many elderly persons are also cognitively impaired as a result of suffering neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia (APA, 2022). These disorders (such as Alzheimer’s disease) usually cause these elderly individuals to be spatially disoriented, suffer from amnesia, wander about aimlessly, be unable to learn, have language and speech difficulties, and be unable to feed themselves as well as perform other ADLs.
The frustrations brought about by the cognitive impairments stated above are however not a reason for caregivers and other persons to mistreat their elderly subjects. It is not just morally and ethically wrong; but also legally unacceptable. This is why abuse and neglect of the elderly is a reportable finding for healthcare professionals in many states (NI Direct, n.d.). The abuse can take many forms such as physical abuse, emotional abuse, or sexual abuse. Other forms are financial exploitation and neglect.
Experience in Practice and Actions to Take
Indeed I have seen neglect and elderly abuse in practice in a variety of settings. I have seen colleagues who think that the elderly who are cognitively impaired and physically living with several comorbidities are lesser patients. I have seen them ignoring them; treating them as though they do not have feelings, and blatantly handling them roughly in physical terms. In such situations I have taken such colleagues aside and reasoned with them that these are also patients like any other and they understand what is being done to them, even if they cannot voice it. At a personal level and as a clinician, I have from time to time handled elderly patients with telltale signs of abuse and neglect. In these instances, I have reported the matter to the relevant authorities as required for further legal action.
Available Community Resources for Elder Abuse/ Neglect and Exploitation
There are a number of community resources available for referral if elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation are suspected. According to Elder Source (2023), some of these resources are:
- Hotlines in each of the states.
- The National Center on Elder Abuse.
- The National Council on Aging Elder Abuse Facts.
Conclusion
Elder abuse and neglect as well as exploitation are morally, ethically, and legally unacceptable. These include physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse. Neglect and financial exploitation are also part of this. In many states, healthcare workers are mandated to report cases of abuse and neglect that they encounter. There are also a number of community resources available to help with cases of elder abuse/ neglect and exploitation Guest Speaker Reflection Abuse And Exploited Essay Assignment.
References
American Psychiatric Association [APA] (2022). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), 5th ed. Author.
Elder Source (2023). Elder abuse prevention. Elder Abuse Prevention | ElderSource (myeldersource.org)
Guirguis-Blake, J., Michael, Y., Perdue, L., Coppola, E., & Beil, T. (2018). Interventions to prevent falls in older adults. JAMA, 319(16), 1705. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.21962
Kennedy-Malone, L., Plank, L.M., & Duffy, E.G. (2019). Advanced practice nursing in the care of older adults, 2nd ed. Davis Company.
NI Direct (n.d.). Recognising adult abuse, exploitation and neglect. Recognising adult abuse, exploitation and neglect | nidirect
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Week 6: Learning Materials
Readings
Required
Read the following articles and/or web resources:
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2020, May 12). Preventing elder abuse. Violence Prevention.
- Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing. (2020). Elder mistreatment assessment. ConsultGeri.
- MedicareAdvantage.com. (2020). A complete guide to elder financial abuse.
- Mion, L. C., & Momeyer, M. (2019). Elder abuse (PDF). Geriatric Nursing, 40, 640–644.
- National Institute on Aging (NIH). (2020, July 29). Elder abuse.
Video
Abused and Exploited
Guest speaker Brittany Love, Director of Prevention and Education at the Community Violence Intervention Center in Grand Forks, presents a training on elder abuse. This training includes information on elder abuse dynamics, caregiver stress, and barriers to living free from abuse.
Abused and Exploited Transcript
Abused and Exploited Slides (PDF)
Complete this short, anonymous Elder Abuse Training Evaluation after viewing this video.
Week 6 Assignment 1: Guest Speaker Reflection
Reflect on the Abused & Exploited video (Abused & Exploited Transcript) you watched from this week’s learning materials.
What are your thoughts on elder abuse/neglect and exploitation? Have you experienced this in practice? What actions should you take, and what community resources are available to you when elder abuse/neglect and exploitation is suspected Guest Speaker Reflection Abuse And Exploited Essay Assignment?
