Solution
Sabah answered on
Apr 21 2021
ELDER ABUSE 1
ELDER ABUSE 2
NURSING
ELDER ABUSE
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Professional and Legal Issues in Elder Abuse 3
Relevant Codes, Legislation, Policy Relating to Reporting Such Issues 4
Implications for Healthcare Workers and Healthcare Delivery 5
Conclusion 6
References 8
Introduction
Elder abuse is a major violation of human rights and requires swift and timely action on an urgent basis. Adult abuses are observed in several forms such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological, financial, emotional abuse or neglect. As can be seen in 2020, one in every six people that are of 60 years age and above experienced some or the other form of elder abuse in their community. Another shocking revelation comes from the nursing home institutions and care facilities with reports of abuse committed by the staff members.
This can lead to severe physical injuries as well as serious long-term consequences. As viewed by Momen (2019), elder abuse is a heinous act committed repeatedly by a person who has trust relationship with the older person resulting in causing harm and injury. The impacts, this can cause on an elderly person, are mental issues such as depression, anxiety disorders, post-trauma stress disorder as well as other mental illnesses and disorders.
Professional and Legal Issues in Elder Abuse
As quoted by Yon et al. (2017), approximately 141 million of elderly people were abused in the year 2015 and an aggregate of 1 in 6 adults over the age of 60 years become victims of elder abuse every year on an average. It has been observed from studies that elderly women as opposed to elderly men are more subjected to abuse on a higher side since they have an inferior social status.
Elder abuse is a multifaceted crisis and involves multidisciplinary professionals to address this issue. The society considers ageing as a burden hence there are legal and institutional frameworks that are introduced for the older adults. As supported by Myhre et al. (2020), elderly people are physically feeble than people of any other age group of people. Not only that; but the elderly group of people also are dependent upon others for various reasons such as daily chores, financial support and shelter.
Therefore, their dependence makes them more vulnerable to being an easier target of abuse. Usually, these abusive actions are physical or sexual. However, as argued by Botngard et al. (2020), the implications are mentally distu
ing. The laws prevalent for safeguarding the rights of the elderly people are not so stringent, which is why proper actions are still not being taken against the abusers, which is why the care for the victims of abuse becomes even more difficult.
It is also important to understand that the care for elderly people largely encompass of their safety, which is hampered if the care providers and nurses are practising abuse against them. As criticised by Pickering et al. (2017), if the elderly people are not treated with compassion and empathy, the level of abuse towards them increases as well, which is quite alarming.
Relevant Codes, Legislation, Policy Relating to Reporting Such Issues
There are many people, who hesitate to take legal help either due to high cost or due to some other reasons. HJP incorporates lawyers into the healthcare systems and...