Elder Abuse: A Case Study
) An example of emotional abuse would be: name calling or threatening a elderly person. Elder abuse is more prevalent then we are made aware of. Griffith (2015) states that 1 in 20 older adults are victim to some kind of elder abuse. Elder abuse can happen anywhere, within the older adults own home and even in government run long term care facilities. Bloemen, Rosen, Clark, Nash and Mielenz (2015) found that an average of 11,749 older adults were abused or neglected in long term care facilities between the years 2006-2013. This seems like a really large number when you factor in the amount of safeguarding that is promoted by long term care facilities.
When we look at the profession of psychologists and therapists one of the principles ll.1
of the Canadian code of ethics for psychologists is: “Protect and promote the welfare of clients, research participants, employees, supervisees, students, trainees, colleagues and others.” (p.16) In the case of elder abuse we need to make sure that our elderly clients are safe and being well taken care of. This is vital, because the elderly population is rapidly expanding and Dell, Fialk, Levine, Reingold and Solomon (2009) project that 1 and 5 Americans will be over the age of 65 as of the year 2011. This means the number of clients, over the age of 65 will expand, so it is crucial that we are aware of our ethical obligations. In Ontario the Ontario human rights commission (2000) found that: “Our population is aging. It is estimated that by the year 2021 Ontario will be home to three million senior citizens, up from one and a half million in 1998.” (p. 4) seeing the dramatic rise in the senior population it behoves us as therapists to find better ways to care for the elderly, a method that gives the respect and dignity that they deserve.
When we look at the profession of psychologists and therapists one of the principles ll.1
of the Canadian code of ethics for psychologists is: “Protect and promote the welfare of clients, research participants, employees, supervisees, students, trainees, colleagues and others.” (p.16) In the case of elder abuse we need to make sure that our elderly clients are safe and being well taken care of. This is vital, because the elderly population is rapidly expanding and Dell, Fialk, Levine, Reingold and Solomon (2009) project that 1 and 5 Americans will be over the age of 65 as of the year 2011. This means the number of clients, over the age of 65 will expand, so it is crucial that we are aware of our ethical obligations. In Ontario the Ontario human rights commission (2000) found that: “Our population is aging. It is estimated that by the year 2021 Ontario will be home to three million senior citizens, up from one and a half million in 1998.” (p. 4) seeing the dramatic rise in the senior population it behoves us as therapists to find better ways to care for the elderly, a method that gives the respect and dignity that they deserve.