21 Vulnerable Populations
Elder Neglect and Abuse and Adults at Risk
Elder abuse is a common problem in the United States. Abuse, including neglect and exploitation, is experienced by about 1 in 10 people aged 60 and older who live at home. From 2002 to 2016, more than 643,000 older adults were treated in the emergency department for nonfatal assaults, and over 19,000 homicides occurred. This information is considered an underestimate of the problem because it is limited to those individuals treated in emergency departments and doesn’t include those who do not seek treatment. Victims must decide whether to tell someone they are being hurt or continue being abused by someone they depend upon or care for deeply.9
Elder abuse is defined as an intentional act or failure to act that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult. An older adult is defined as someone aged 60 or older. 10 Adults at risk are also considered vulnerable adults at risk for abuse. Adults at risk are defined as adults who have a physical or mental condition that impairs their ability to care for their own needs. 11 Older adults and adults at risk are potentially susceptible to abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation by caregivers or a person they trust. 12 A caregiver is a person who has taken responsibility for all or part of an individual’s care.
The following are types of elder abuse: 13
- Physical abuse: Physical abuse refers to illness, pain, injury, functional impairment, distress, or death as a result of the intentional use of physical force and includes acts such as hitting, kicking, pushing, slapping, and burning. 14
- Sexual abuse: Sexual abuse refers to forced or unwanted sexual interaction of any kind. This may include unwanted sexual contact or penetration or non-contact acts such as sexual harassment.
- Emotional abuse: Emotional abuse refers to verbal or nonverbal behaviors that inflict anguish, mental pain, fear, or distress, such as humiliation or disrespect, verbal and nonverbal threats, harassment, and geographic or interpersonal isolation.
- Neglect: Neglect is the failure to meet the person’s basic needs, including food, water, shelter, clothing, hygiene, and essential medical care.
- Financial abuse: Financial abuse is the illegal, unauthorized, or improper use of money, benefits, belongings, property, or assets for the benefit of someone other than the individual.
- Treatment without consent: Treatment without consent refers to the administration of medication or the performance of psychosurgery, electroconvulsive therapy, or experimental research on an individual who has not provided informed consent.
- Unreasonable confinement or restraint: Unreasonable confinement or restraint refers to the intentional and unnecessary confinement of an individual in a locked room, involuntary separation from their living area, use of physical restraints, or the provision of unnecessary or excessive medication. (This does not include the use of these methods or