Texas
Attorney General Greg Abbott is committed to providing senior
Texans with timely, up-to-date information about crimes against
the elderly and about other issues of importance to seniors. If
you would like to receive e-mail Senior Alerts, please register
your information on our automated
subscription service from the Office of Attorney General.
Senior Alerts are available in hard copy free of charge, by
sending an e-mail to: listmgmt@oag.state.tx.us.
Attorney
General for the State of Texas
T.O.A.G.
Protecting Elder Texans
Elder
Angels
The
Elder Fraud Project
American's over
the age of 50 years represent 30% of our population, 12% of our
murder victims and 7% of other serious and violent crime
victims.
90% of elder abuse and neglect incidents are by known
perpetrators, usually family members, 2/3rds are adult children
or spouses. 42% of murder victims over 60 were killed by their
own offspring. Spouses were the perpetrators in 24% of family
murders of persons over 60.
The eldest of our
seniors, 80 years and older, are abused and neglected at 2 - 3
times the proportion of all other senior citizens. -- Bureau
of Justice Statistics
In most states
"mandatory reporters of elder abuse" are required by
law to report suspected cases of elder maltreatment. Nearly 70
percent of Adult Protective Service agencies' annual caseloads
involve elder abuse.
21.6%
of all domestic elder abuse reports came from physicians or
health care professionals 9.4% from service providers, 14.9% are
family members. They types of abuses and their percentage of
frequency are below:
|
Neglect
Physical abuse
Financial exploitation
Emotional abuse
Sexual
abuse
All other types
Unknown |
58.5%
15.7%
12.3%
7.3%
.04%
5.1%
.06% |
Source:
The National Elder Abuse Incidence Study: Final Report
Washington
,
DC
: Administration for Children and Families &
Administration on
Aging
,
US
Department of Health and Human Services
.
More
than 91%
of nursing homes lack adequate staff to properly care for
patients.
The Health and Human Services Department report found patients
in understaffed nursing homes were more likely to suffer from a
variety of problems, such as bed sores, malnutrition, weight
loss, dehydration, pneumonia, and serious blood born infections.
It's a serious concern that will only increase with time, given
that the population of people aged 85 or older is expected to
double to 8.9 million by the year 2030.