Prevention and Warning Signs

 

Prevention

  • Break down isolation.
  • Engage with your community.
  • Keep active.
  • Avoid living with someone who is known to be abusive or violent.
  • Be wary of caregivers or friends needing financial help, or those who have issues with illicit drugs.
  • Stay on top of your own financial affairs.
  • Don’t allow a caretaker or family member to impulsively alter wills, or add their names to financial accounts or land titles.
  • Be wary of solicitations from the telephone, internet or mail.

 

Warning Signs

Physical Abuse

  • Unexplained signs of injury, such as bruises, welts, or scars, especially if they appear symmetrically on two sides of the body
  • Broken bones, sprains, or dislocations
  • Report of drug overdose or apparent failure to take medication regularly (a prescription has more remaining than it should)
  • Broken eyeglasses or frames
  • Signs of being restrained, such as rope marks on wrists
  • Caregiver’s refusal to allow you to see the older adult alone

Emotional Abuse

  • Threatening, belittling, or controlling caregiver behavior
  • Behavior that mimics dementia, such as rocking, sucking, or mumbling to themselves

Sexual Abuse

  • Bruises around breasts or genitals
  • Unexplained vaginal or anal bleeding
  • Torn, stained, or bloody underclothing

Elder Neglect or Self-Neglect

  • Unusual weight loss, malnutrition, dehydration
  • Untreated physical problems, such as bed sores
  • Unsanitary living conditions: dirt, bugs, soiled bedding and clothes
  • Being left dirty or unbathed
    • Unsuitable clothing or covering for the weather
    • Unsafe living conditions (no heat or running water; faulty electrical wiring, other fire hazards)

Abandonment

  • Desertion of the older adult at a public place

Financial exploitation

  • Significant withdrawals from personal accounts
  • Sudden changes in financial condition
  • Items or cash missing from the household
  • Suspicious changes in wills, power of attorney, titles, and policies
  • Addition of names on a signature card
  • Financial activity the older adult couldn’t have done, such as an ATM withdrawal when the account holder is bedridden
  • Unnecessary services, goods, or subscriptions