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Elder Abuse Awareness

Written on: June 15th, 2010 in Blog Posts

On June 15th, the Attorney General’s Office will be marking Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Delaware as it continues to make efforts to make awareness and establish policy to protect our elders. The 2010 National Elder Mistreatment Study (click here to read the full study with your library ID and PIN) shows the shocking prevalence of elder abuse in the United States. More than 11% of those non-cognitively impaired 60 years or older, living in community settings self-reported emotional, physical, sexual, or financial abuse by those involved in their care.

If you or a senior citizen who you care about is being harmed by abuse or neglect or is being taken advantage of by an unscrupulous individual contact:

• The Delaware Department of Justice at 1-800-220-5424; or
• Delaware Adult Protective Services at 1-800-223-9074; or
• If you or a senior citizen who you care about is in immediate danger, call 911.

A number of books are available from Delaware Library Catalog libraries on the subject, including:

Elder Abuse Prevention
Elder Mistreatment, by the National Academies
Abuse Neglect and Exploitation of Older Persons, and
Elder Mistreatment: Ethical Issues

Online Resources include:

• The National Libraries of Medicine’s MedlinePlus website’s page with information and links to agencies concerned with elder abuse
• The Delaware Division of Services for Aging homepage includes a link to the 2010-11 Guide to Services for Older Delawareans and People with Disabilities (.pdf format), which is also available at your Delaware public library
• The National Center on Elder Abuse website
• The International Center on Elder Abuse’s World Elder Abuse Awareness Day website