Generic Gengraf

STUDIES AND WORK ON ABUSE OF ELDERLY PEOPLE

Some work has been done on trying to identify the elderly and their carers most at risk from abuse. It seems that most carers who later abuse have been to their GP before the event. They go with minor ailments, but if recognized and asked they talk of the increasing burden of caring and of some resentment creeping into the relationship with the sufferer. Indeed what they are trying to say, but dare not, is that they fear abusing the other person. There then usually occurs a triggering factor or 'last straw', such as a bout of incontinence or disturbed sleep, and the abuse occurs. A chilling comment by an abuser was 'It's much easier after the first time'. A large group of carers agreed to be interviewed in a recent research study. Two-thirds of the group admitted losing their tempers with the relative and one-fifth said that they occasionally resorted to shaking or hitting the person. A fifth also reported that the sufferers tried to hit them, especially those that were confused, and it was this confused group that were most likely to be hit themselves. The most comprehensive (and only large scale) survey of elder abuse was carried out by Ogg and Bennett in 1992. They found that on a random sample of elderly people 5 per cent had been verbally abused and 2 per cent physically or financially abused. A survey of people in a caring role showed that 10 per cent admitted verbally abusing an elderly person and 1 per cent said they had physically abused them. If reproduced nationally these figures would equate to over one million elderly people being verbally abused and half a million physically abused.
There was a stereotyped picture of the sort of elderly person most likely to be abused (in any setting). Most at risk were thought to be very elderly females, chronically confused, unable to converse normally, tending to have no purposeful activity between meals. The person had negative personality traits such as incontinence, unpleasant behaviour (biting, spitting, masturbating), dysphasia (difficulty speaking) and disturbed sleep patterns.
This stereotype may match many victims but as more research is carried out into this problem, both here and in the US, what is revealed is the diversity of the condition and not its sameness. Some US studies show that it is spouse abuse (usually male to female) continued into old age that is the most common. In other studies nearly as many men as women were being abused. There were no stereotypes in terms of class, race, etc. It would seem that any elderly person may be at risk of abuse. In the US Holly Ramsey-Klawsnik has made a personal study of sexual abuse of elderly people. In this condition women victims do outnumber men, but males are abused. She points out that the most at risk are those in powerless positions (either physical or mental frailty) and that the abusers are overwhelmingly men.

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GENERAL HEALTH

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