What is Elder Abuse?

California law says that an "elder" is a person who is 65 or older. Elder abuse can be in the form of physical abuse, neglect, financial abuse, abandonment, isolation, abduction, or other treatment with resulting physical harm or pain or mental suffering. To deprive an elder person of goods and services that result in physical harm or pain or mental suffering is also elder abuse.

Unfortunately, the elderly are often vulnerable to mistreatment. The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that between 1 million and 2 million elderly Americans have been victims of elder abuse. We can imagine that the numbers are probably much higher due to incidents that go unreported.

The purpose of my blog is to disseminate information about elder abuse in the United States. I hope that by doing so, we can better identify situations where our beloved elderly need our assistance in preventing an abusive situation that can hamper their lives.

I will post again soon. Feel free to contact me if you have specific questions, or respond to this blog for general comments.

Thanks for reading.