Different Types Of Senior Abuse

Senior Rehab Facilities

Elder abuse is the intentional psychological or physical harm or neglect of seniors and is more common than we think. Elderly abuse is classified into seven groups by the National Center on Elder Abuse and these are discussed below.

Physical Abuse

It includes using physical force that can lead to pain, injury, or even impairment in seniors. Physical abuse can include kicking, burning, hitting, shaking, and other acts of violence. Some of the commonly overlooked types of physical abuse include inappropriate administration of medications, force-feeding or starvation, and forced restraints. Some signs are:

• Bruises on the trunk area or face, as usually, accidental bruising in seniors can occur on hands and legs.
• Sprains, fractured bones, or other serious injuries without any reported fall.
• Signs of being restrained.
• Reports of physical abuse from the senior person.

Despite strict regulations, abuse of seniors can take place in health care facilities, senior rehab facilities, nursing homes, hospitals, and long-term care homes. Therefore, you need to pay attention to signs of elderly abuse in your senior loved in who is in senior rehab facilities or nursing homes.

Emotional Abuse 

Emotional abuse involves the infliction of pain, distress, or anguish via verbal and nonverbal acts. It includes harassment, insults, verbal abuse, and threats. Forced isolation, infantilizing, and gaslighting are also included in emotional abuse.

Sexual Abuse  

This includes all sexual actions towards a senior that is non-consensual. Sexual abuse can include anything from inappropriate touch to rape, forced nudity, or photography. Elderly people with very high levels of cognitive impairment cannot give sexual consent.

Material Or Financial Exploitation 

This includes stealing or mismanaging the possessions or money of an elderly person. Cashing checks without permission, coercion, misuse of the power of attorney or guardianship, forging signatures, all come under the category of financial or material exploitation.

Neglect 

Refusing to offer a dependent senior necessity like food, shelter, water medicine and hygiene comes under neglect. When the person who is supposed to take care of the finances of an elderly person refuses to pay for the care of the senior, it is considered financial neglect.

Abandonment 

It is an extremity of neglect wherein caregiver deserts the seniors. Seniors are often abandoned after a stay in a healthcare facility or their own homes.

Self-Neglect

This is when an elderly person engages in behaviors that can be harmful to their safety or health like refusing to take medications, eat drink or ensure daily hygiene. Self-neglect can be very common in elderly people with cognitive problems or mental illness.