Try: Elder neglect failure to fulfill a caretaking obligation constitutes more than half of all reported cases of elder abuse it can be active intentional or passive unintentional based on factors such as ignorance or denial that an elderly charge needs as much care as he or she does signs of neglect by caregivers or self-neglect unusual weight loss malnutrition dehydration untreated physical problems such as bed sores unsanitary living conditions dirt bugs soiled bedding and clothes being left dirty or unbathed unsuitable clothing or covering for the weather unsafe living conditions no heat or running water; faulty electrical wiring other fire hazards desertion of the elder at a public place information references "elder abuse and neglect warning signs risk factors prevention and help" by laurence robinson tina de benedictis and jeanne segal 2011 available at

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Emotional Psychological, Legal, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Elder abuse neglect caregiver weight loss malnutrition dehydration dirty clothing alone unattended

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Financial exploitation involves unauthorized use of an elderly person’s funds or property either by a caregiver 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 elderly person has won but must pay money to claim phony charities investment fraud signs of financial exploitation significant withdrawals from the elder’s accounts sudden changes in the elder’s financial condition items or cash missing from the senior’s household suspicious changes in wills power of attorney titles and policies addition of names to the senior’s signature card unpaid bills or lack of medical care although the elder has enough money to pay for them financial activity the senior couldn’t have done such as an atm withdrawal when the account holder is bedridden unnecessary services goods or subscriptions information references "elder abuse and neglect warning signs risk factors prevention and help" by laurence robinson tina de benedictis and jeanne segal 2011 available at

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Emotional Psychological, Financial, Legal

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Keywords: Elder abuse fraud neglect financial stealing criminal activity

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Elder abuse can take many forms elder abuse is defined as a knowing intentional or negligent act to a vulnerable senior laws to protect the elderly vary from state to state and from country to country six common types of elder abuse are defined and discussed below physical abuse inflicting or threatening to inflict physical pain or injury to a vulnerable elder physical abuse can also include depriving the elder of basic needs such as food medicines or giving too much medication signs of abuse include physical signs sudden changes in behavior or the caregiver caregiver’s refusal to allow visitors to see the Care recipient (cr) alone emotional or psychological abuse inflicting mental pain anguish or distress on an elder person through verbal or nonverbal acts emotional abuse can be difficult to detect unless witnessed seniors being abused in this way can show changes in behavior fear when in the presence of the abuser agitation or withdrawal sexual abuse sexual abuse is non-consensual sexual contact of any kind sexual abuse can be difficult to detect except for those involved in the cr cr’s nursing care health care professionals may be able to detect sexual abuse through the physical signs reports and allegations of sexual abuse by a vulnerable cr should always be investigated financial or exploitative abuse financial or exploitative abuse is defined as the illegal taking misuse or concealment of funds property or assets of a vulnerable senior exploitation includes the unexplained disappearance of funds valuable possessions and changes to wills or financial documents neglect as abuse neglect is defined as failing or refusing to provide food shelter healthcare or protection for a vulnerable cr the physical signs of neglect are often easy to see examples include dirty surroundings poor personal hygiene soiled bedding smells untreated cuts or sores and poor dental hygiene abandonment deserting a vulnerable cr is abuse when the caregiver has assumed custody and responsibility for care information references adapted from the internet website www about com

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Categories: Emotional Psychological, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Abuse

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Every year tens of thousands of elderly americans are abused in their own homes in relatives’ homes and even in facilities responsible for their care as elders become more physically frail they’re less able to stand up to bullying and or fight back if attacked they may not see or hear as well or think as clearly as they used to leaving openings for unscrupulous people to take advantage of them mental or physical ailments may make them more trying companions for the people who live with them types of abuse abuse of elders takes many different forms some involving intimidation or threats against the elderly some involving neglect and others involving financial fraud or theft the most common types of elder abuse are physical emotional sexual neglect or abandonment by caregivers financial exploitation healthcare fraud and abuse general signs of abuse the following are warning signs of some kind of elder abuse frequent arguments or tension between the caregiver and the elderly person changes in personality or behavior in the elder information references "elder abuse and neglect warning signs risk factors prevention and help" laurence robinson tina de benedictis and jeanne segal 2011 available at

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Emotional Psychological, Financial, Legal, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Elder abuse sexual abuse fraud neglect emotional abuse psychological abuse criminal activity

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Physical elder abuse is non-accidental use of force against an elderly person that results in physical pain injury or impairment such abuse includes not only physical assaults such as hitting or shoving but the inappropriate use of drugs restraints or confinement signs of physical abuse 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 information references "elder abuse and neglect warning signs risk factors prevention and help" by laurence robinson tina de benedictis and jeanne segal 2011 available at

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Emotional Psychological, Legal, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Elder abuse neglect injury physical harm bruises

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: In emotional or psychological senior abuse people speak to or treat elderly persons in ways that cause emotional pain or distress verbal forms of emotional elder abuse include intimidation through yelling or threats humiliation and ridicule habitual blaming or scapegoating nonverbal psychological elder abuse can be things like ignoring the elderly person isolating an elder from friends or activities terrorizing or menacing the elderly person signs of emotional abuse signs of emotional elder abuse include threatening belittling or controlling caregiver behavior that you witness behavior from the elder that mimics dementia such as rocking sucking or mumbling to oneself information references "elder abuse and neglect warning signs risk factors prevention and help" by laurence robinson tina de benedictis and jeanne segal 2011 available at

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Emotional Psychological, Legal, Medical Physical

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Keywords: Elder abuse neglect injury threats intimidation intimidating criminal activity scared worried afraid

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Sexual elder abuse is contact with an elderly person without the elder’s consent such contact can involve physical sex acts but activities such as showing an elderly person pornographic material forcing the person to watch sex acts or forcing the elder to undress are also considered sexual elder abuse signs of sexual abuse bruises around breasts or genitals unexplained venereal disease or genital infections unexplained vaginal or anal bleeding torn stained or bloody underclothing information references "elder abuse and neglect warning signs risk factors prevention and help" by laurence robinson tina de benedictis and jeanne segal 2011 available at

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Emotional Psychological, Legal, Medical Physical, Sexuality Intimacy

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Keywords: Elder abuse injury venereal disease sex; rape

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Abuse and neglect of the elderly has drawn increased attention in recent years elder abuse is defined as sustained physical or mental abuse of an older individual abuse and neglect are repetitive in nature a one-time incident is often not considered abuse or neglect it may be an assault though because of the repetitive nature of abuse and neglect the abuser is often someone with an ongoing relationship with the older person one of the most common abusers is the caregiver this is because the caregiver has a great deal of power and influence over the Care recipient (cr) elder abuse is defined as physical or mental mistreatment that threatens or harms the cr elder neglect generally refers to a willful refusal by a caregiver or a person with a duty to provide care to provide services necessary for the cr’s health the elderly can also be abused financially this is often referred to as exploitation exploitation can involve improper or illegal use of the individual’s assets information references

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Keywords: Elder abuse

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Late life is commonly a period of transitions including retirement relocation and adjustment to losses support groups may help a senior get through these difficult transitions retirement retirement is often the first major transition faced by a senior its effects on physical and mental health differ from person to person depending on attitude toward and reason for retiring adjustments to retirement include reduced income and altered social role and entitlements some people choose to retire and look forward to quitting unpleasant work; others are forced to retire because of health problems or job loss preparing in advance and taking advantage of support groups may help relocation relocation may occur several times during later life to smaller quarters after selling the family home to retirement housing to reduce the burden of upkeep or to a nursing home a senior’s physical and mental health status are significant predictors of relocation adjustment so too is thoughtful and adequate preparation seniors who respond poorly to relocation are more likely to be living alone socially isolated poor and depressed men respond less well than women stress can occur if the senior thinks he has little or no control over the move and he feels they are moving to a completely new environment to reduce the stress of moving it is helpful for a senior to become acquainted with the new setting well in advance a move to a new environment can be very difficult for a senior who has a cognitive disorder they may become more functionally dependent and have more disruptive behaviors loss and grief loss affects many aspects of a senior’s life for example social interaction and companionship decrease and social status may change the death of a spouse affects men and women differently in the 2 years after death of a wife the mortality rate in men tends to increase loss can also cause some sleep disturbance and anxiety but these are normal these effects usually go away in a few months however caregivers should be concerned if they notice the following symptoms that are typical of a major depressive episode and that last more than 2 months feelings of guilt about things not directly related to the loss thoughts of death unrelated to survivorship morbid preoccupation with worthlessness hallucinations other than hearing and seeing the person who has died caregivers should look for these symptoms and be aware that care recipients who are experiencing loss of a friend or relative are at high risk of suicide and declining health status information references "effects of life transitions" by barbara j berkman and daniel b kaplan 2009 available at

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Categories: Sage, Topic, Emotional Psychological, Personal

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Keywords: Retirement relocation moving grief loss support groups handling change

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed

Try: Issues with sleeping are sometimes common with care recipients cr who are memory impaired if your cr is memory impaired it is recommended that you become familiar with the various issues that can occur with sleeping problems be very cautious with the use of any kinds of medications for inducing sleep sometimes they may make symptoms of confusion and disorientation worse psychotropic or sleeping medications must be very carefully monitored by a physician familiar with memory impairment problems with sleeping or late evening agitation are often a stage in memory impairment diseases that eventually pass many crs begin sleeping more during the later stages of disease it is important to try to recognize elements in the environment the medical condition or problems of communication that might be contributing to sleep problems before deciding on particular strategies to try keep a log to help pinpoint possible cause of the sleeping problem sleep problems are one of the symptoms that you may find very difficult to tolerate when you are unable to get adequate sleep for yourself night after night you may become higher risk for accidents or illness and you cr may become a more likely candidate for the nursing home it may be helpful for you to try meditation or relaxation techniques to help yourself fall back asleep quickly information references mace nancy & rabins peter 1999 the 36-hour day baltimore the john’s hopkins university press robinson anne spencer beth & white laurie 1992 understanding difficult behaviors ypsilanti mi eastern michigan university

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Keywords: Dementia

*This information is listed as a Fact Sheet and is not explicitly medically licensed