Elderly abuse mostly takes place in the home where seniors lives. It can also happen in institutional settings, especially long-term care facilities or even hospitals. We’ve see many shocking and upsetting stories in the news as recent regarding patients being abused in care homes and caught on undercover surveillance.
Did you know that an estimated one in 10 older adults experience some form of abuse, and over 500,000 older people are abused in the UK each year – Action On Elder Abuse. These worrying statistics call for more awareness and action around elderly abuse and what it actually is and isn’t.
Types of Elderly Abuse
You might think when we referring to abuse that we just mean physical harm, however abuse can include a number of other things, which include:
- Stealing or pressurising someone to hand over money.
- Making decisions without consulting the person involved.
- Treating someone in a way that makes them feel threatened, belittled or embarrassed.
- Touching someone in a way they don’t want to be touched.
- Physically hurting someone.
- Neglecting someone’s needs.
Source: Age UK
How To Recognise Elderly Abuse?
When someone such as a carer or close friend, family member or loved one is looking after you, they should always take best interests at heart and listen to what YOU want and how you feel. When you’ve expressed unhappiness towards how someone is treating you and they don’t change, then they are abusing their position and not respecting you or your best interests.
No-one should have to put up with any form of the above treatment, so it’s important to raise a voice if there’s ever any concerns. The same goes for anyone that suspects an elderly person is being abused. Try to raise your concerns and speak to a friend or relative, GP, social worker or someone within your local council.
There’s also the Action on Elder Abuse helpline available where you can speak to someone confidentially and ask questions: 080 8808 8141.
How Careline Can Help
If you’re elderly or have an elderly loved one or friend a Careline alarm can raise the alarm for help in the event of a fall or another dangerous event. Please take a moment to look over our service and the alarm packages we have available by directing to our main web page.
