Adult Mistreatment (Thesis Sample)

Adult mistreatment
Name
Institution

Adult mistreatment
As people advance in age, they grow physically frail. Some do not hear or act like they used to do before. Others develop physical and emotional disabilities. For this reason, the adults are prone to neglect and abuse from nurses, as well as their family members. The neglect and ill-treatment that the elderly get receive takes different structures. They include physical, emotional, verbal and financial exploitation. The National Center on Elderly Abuse noted that each year, over five million adults experience neglect and ill- treatment. The number could go up in the coming years. However, the figure is not accurate because most of the cases of abuse go unreported. Most of the elderly feel ashamed and fail to report abusive incidences. In most cases, the family members are the perpetrators of the abuse and the elderly do not want to say their family members. It gets complicated to explain how someone they loved and trusted mistreated them. Some of the abusers try to show the elderly that the abuse is as a result of their faults while others threaten them. They end up living in fear and pain from the incidences of adult neglects and mistreatment. The elderly who have mental or physical issues experience a lot of mistreatment by caregivers such as nurses and family members. This paper will define elder abuse and the three major categories of elder abuse. It will also discuss the types of abuse that the elderly experience such as sexual, emotional, physical, exploitation, self- neglect, neglect, and abandonment. Nurses will get to understand the warning signs of elder abuse. The paper will explain more about the mandated reporter and how gerontology nurses can be mandated reporters. It will give abuse statistics according to different countries and finally explain the duties of a forensic nurse.
Elder abuse according to the New York State Law is the intentional act of negligence by a caregiver or other people that lead to harm or severe risk to the vulnerable adult. Elder abuse is a continuous habit that involves the lack of right actions that come about within a relationship where the elderly trust the latter. The inappropriate actions cause harm and distress to the old, who becomes the victim of the abuse or neglect. The central point in elder abuse is that the victim has a lot of trust in the caregiver, who eventually harms them. In most cases, the elderly victims of abuse experience it from people they relate to like a life partner, a friend, family member or a neighbor. These are the people that the elderly rely on for help and different services. Except for the cases where the nurses are the abusers of the elderly, most people consider adult mistreated as family or domestic violence. In some cases, though not categorized as elder abuse, people break into the homes of the elderly causing physical and emotional harm to the old. .distraction burglary is a common incident where one of the thugs distracts the elderly person at the doorstep while the rest of the gang steals from the house. Elder abuse is a global issue. Some of the nurses, who are employed to take care of the elderly, abuse them. Abuse involves nurses when the victims seek medical advice after experiencing different forms of abuse.
According to the National Center for Elder Abuse, there are three major categories of abuse that the elderly people face. These include domestic, institutional and self- abuse. Domestic elder abuse is whereby the perpetrators of the abuse are family members of the victim. The family member decides to harm their elderly relative physically, emotionally, sexually, or financially. These incidences are the lowest according to statistics because the victims do not report. They remain silent because of fear of isolation by the family members. They also feel concerned about the people who abuse them and do not want to harm them. For example, if the abuser is a daughter- in – law, the elderly fails to report for fear of hurting their son. Domestic elder abuse has many emotional effects because the victim trusts the perpetrator. Examples of domestic elder abuse are a violent act such as physical assault. Deliberate inactions such as failing to take the elderly for a walk, not helping them feed and drink. Failing to take them to hospital whenever they fall ill is also an example of domestic elder abuse. The family members understand the needs of the elderly person but choose not to take them for medical attention. It becomes a domestic elder abuse if it causes harm to the elderly person. For example, if they do not take a walk, they get weak due to the lack of enough exercise. Their health gets worse if they do not receive medical attention. With time, they could even die. Similarly, if they do not get the right foods and drinks, their health changes for the worst. Any form of family violence falls under domestic elder abuse.
Institutional Elder abuse is any form of ill- treatment of the elderly from institutions and systems of power. They include physical, sexual or financial neglects. In most cases, these institutions offer some form of specialized services to the elderly people. Institutional elder abuse comes in three categories. Overt abuse describes the type of damage that the elderly receive from a family member during the times when they stay in a specialized institution. An example of the overt institutional abuse is failing to visit the elderly for some time. If the old person is in a hospital or specialized institution, they expect their family members to visit. However, they fail to visit them in the institutions. Another example is when a financially capable family fails to pay the bills or bring medicine to their elderly relative. Failing to support their well- being while they receive specialized care from various institutions causes stress and depression. Program abuse is an entirely institutional incident. A program becomes abusive to the elderly if they operate under the expecte...