Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc.
(Publication Archives)

Community Connections, Fall 2003

Elder Abuse in the Home
By Helena Davis, Director of Anti-Discrimination Programs, MHANYS

Elder abuse in a domestic setting is defined as abuse occurring in an individual's own home, apartment, or other non-institutional setting. Perpetrators may be elderly spouses, hired caretakers, or family members who are caring for aging relatives. The prevalence of elder abuse is difficult to assess accurately since victims may be ashamed or afraid to tell, and family members who know also remain silent for the same reasons.

Family caretakers, especially those in the "Sandwich Generation," may become overwhelmed with all of their responsibilities and may begin to lash out emotionally or physically due to frustration or exhaustion. As a result of extraordinary stress, family caretakers may suffer depression and become increasingly less capable of caring for their elders, let alone their nuclear families. In such cases, elders may suffer neglect or abandonment. Elderly spouses may become abusive for the same reasons. In addition, if an elderly spouse begins to suffer from dementia, Alzheimer's, thyroid malfunction, or reactions to prescription medication, he or she may begin to commit spousal abuse. There is also a possibility that people outside the family, who are hired to help out, may perpetrate some kind of abuse, but this tends to be the exception rather than the rule.

The Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect (CANE) recognizes six types of abuse. Definitions are based on a 1995 survey and analysis of existing State and Federal definitions:
Physical abuse - Use of physical force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain, or impairment. The incidence of physical abuse accounted for 14.6 % of all reports.

Sexual abuse – Non-consensual sexual contact of any kind with an elderly person. The incidence of sexual abuse accounted for .03% of total abuse.

Emotional abuse - Inflicting anguish, pain, or distress through verbal or non-verbal acts. 7.7% of elderly victims suffered from emotional abuse.

Financial/material exploitation - Illegal or improper use of an elder's funds, property, or assets. 12.3% of cases reported were financial/material exploitation.

Neglect - Refusal, or failure, to fulfill any part of a person's obligations or duties to an elderly person. Neglect accounted for 55% of abuse reports.

Abandonment - Desertion of an elderly person by an individual who has physical custody of the elder, or by anyone who has assumed responsibility for providing care to the elder. “Abandonment” was included in "All Other Types" which accounted for 6.1%.

Self-neglect - Behaviors of an elderly person that threaten the elder's health or safety available to help the elderly and their caregivers.

The 1996 CANE Report estimated that 820,00 to 1,860,000 elders in the United States were victims of abuse. This estimate excludes the self-neglect category. If self-neglect figures are included, the total estimate rises to 2.16 million individuals. From 1986 until 1996, the incidence of reported elder abuse rose from 117,000 to 820,000, an increase of 156%.

Statistics from the CANE Report, as well as others, point to how vulnerable our elderly population is and how much work we still must do to educate everyone about services which are available to help the elderly and their caregivers.
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(1) The data in this article came from a report that was researched and written by Toshio Tatara, Ph.D. and Lisa M. Kuzmeskus, M.A. for the National Center on Elder Abuse, Grant No. 90-am-0600 (Washington, D.C.: May 1996 update by the National Center on Elder Abuse, March, 1999).

posted 9/18/03