elder abuse: a women's issue - OWL-National Older Women's League

Dementia and Elder Abuse: Research indicates thatpeople with dementia are at greater risk of elder abusethan those without. 16 17 A recent study revealed thatclose to 50% of people with dementia experience somekind of abuse. 18 Approximately 5.1 million Americansover 65 have some kind of dementia. Close to half ofall people over 85, the fastest growing segment of ourpopulation, have Alzheimer’s disease or another kind ofdementia. By 2025, most states are expected to see anincrease in Alzheimer's prevalence. 19 Women over 90 aresignificantly more likely to have dementia than men ofthe same age. 20Chronic Illness and Abuse: In 2005, 44% of thoseage 75 years and over living in the community reportedhaving a limitation in their usual activity due to a chroniccondition. 21 Gender disparities in functional status arenotable, with more women over 65 than men havingproblems performing activities that are important forindependent functioning. 22Mistreatment in Nursing Homes and Other Long-Term Care Facilities: Over 2.8 million older Americanslive in the nation’s 64,000 licensed care facilities. 23 Justover 5% of the elderly were in nursing homes in 1985,down to 4.6% in 1995, for an annual decline of 0.7%. 7The Long Term Care Ombudsmen reported receivingalmost 14,000 allegations of abuse, gross neglect orexploitation in 2007. 24 A 2008 study conducted by theU.S. General Accountability Office revealed that statesurveys understate problems in licensed facilities: 70%of state surveys miss at least one deficiency, and 15% ofsurveys miss actual harm and immediate jeopardy of anursing home resident. 25Impact of Elder Mistreatment: Elders whoexperienced mistreatment, even modest mistreatment,had a 300% higher risk of death when compared tothose who had not been mistreated. 26 Women whoexperienced psychological or emotional abuse (alone orwith other kinds of abuse) had significantly increasedodds of reporting joint, heart and digestive problems;depression or anxiety; and chronic pain. 27 Elder financialabuse costs older Americans more than $2.6 billion peryear. 28America’s Response to Elder Abuse - Silence Isn’tReally Golden: Current federal resources devoted tothe problem of elder abuse are minimal. The SenateSpecial Committee on Aging estimates that less than2% of federal “abuse prevention” dollars go to eldermistreatment efforts (though elders comprise 12% ofAmerica’s population).At the U.S. Department of Health and HumanServices (HHS):• Adult Protective Services, the front line responderto elder abuse, does not even have a federal officeor federal standards, oversight, training, datacollection or reliable funding.• The National Institute on Aging, which leads thefederal effort on aging research, last year spentonly about $1 million (or 1/1000 th of its annual$1 billion budget) on elder abuse research, a smallfraction of what it spends on other issues.• The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionlast year spent just $55,000 of its $8.8 billionannual budget (0.00062%) on elder abuse issues.• Recent Government Accountability Officereports cite serious care and oversight deficienciesin facilities funded and regulated by the Centersfor Medicare and Medicaid Services, oftenresulting in abuse, neglect or even death of frailelders. A study by Rep. Henry Waxman’s officefound abuse-related deficiencies in one third ofnursing facilities.• The Administration on Aging spends about $6million (0.5% of a $1.4 billion budget) on elderabuse efforts, plus $16 million on the Long TermCare Ombudsman program.• Elder abuse is not just a health issue. It also oftenis a federal, state or local crime or a civil offense,albeit one that is rarely recognized or prosecuted.At the Department of Justice (DOJ):• The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)spends only 1% of its funds on elders, whocomprise 20% of the adult population but arerarely served by domestic violence programs.• The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), DOJ’sgrant-making arm, in FY 2008 spent less than $2million (less than 0.5% of its $2.3 billion 2008budget) on elder justice efforts.• Current federal elder justice efforts are sporadic4