NATIONAL CENTER ON ELDER ABUSE 1201 15th Street, NW, Suite 350, Washington, DC 20005-2800 Types of Elder in Domestic Settings 1 Elder Information Series N o. 1 The Problem of Elder Elder abuse in domestic settings -- i.e., in a person's own home, apartment or other noninstitutional living arrangement -- is a serious problem, affecting hundreds of thousands of elderly people across the country. The problem is largely hidden under the shroud of family secrecy. The signs of elder abuse are not recognized, leading to gross under-reporting of the problem. The true national incidence or prevalence of elder abuse is not known although various studies have attempted to estimate the size of the problem. In 1991, for example, researchers estimated that 2.5 million people were victims of various forms of elder abuse. This figure was adjusted in 1996, based on state reporting data, to suggest that there were between 820,000 and 1,860,000 abused elders in the country. 2 It is widely accepted that these data help to illuminate the seriousness of the problem; however, no one can say exactly how many cases of elder abuse there are in this country each year. Types of Elder The National Center on Elder defines seven different types of elder abuse: physical abuse; sexual abuse; emotional abuse; financial exploitation; neglect; abandonment; and selfneglect. These definitions are based on an analysis of existing State and Federal definitions of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation conducted by the Center in 1995.! Physical abuse. Use of physical force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain, or impairment.! Sexual. Non-consensual sexual contact of any kind with an elderly person.! Emotional abuse. Infliction of anguish, pain, or distress through verbal or non-verbal acts.! Financial/material exploitation. Illegal or improper use of an elder's funds, property, or assets.! Neglect. Refusal, or failure, to fulfill any part of a person s obligations or duties to an elderly person. 1 This Informational report was researched and written by Toshio Tatara, Ph D. and Lisa M. Kuzmeskus, M.A. for the National Center on Elder Grant No. 90-am-0660 (Washington, DC: May 1996; update by the National Center on Elder, March, 1999). 2 Tatara, Toshio and Lisa Kuzmeskus, Summaries of Statistical Data on Elder in Domestic Settings for FY 95 and FY 96 (Washington, DC: National Center on Elder, 1997). The National Center on Elder is a partnership of the National Association of State Units on Aging (NASUA); the Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly of the American Bar Association (ABA); the Clearinghouse on and Neglect of the Elderly (CANE) of the University of Delaware; the San Francisco Consortium for Elder Prevention of the Goldman Institute on Aging (GIOA); the National Association of Adult Protective Services Administrators (NAAPSA); and the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder (NCPEA). Support for the National Center on Elder is provided by the U.S. Administration on Aging.
! Abandonment. Desertion of an elderly person by an individual who has physical custody of the elder or by a person who has assumed responsibility for providing care to the elder.! Self-neglect. Behaviors of an elderly person that threaten the elder s health or safety. Highlights of A Study of Domestic Elder Reports Presented below are selected findings from a national study of state domestic elder abuse reports, conducted by the National Center on Elder. 2 Data were collected from State adult protective service agencies and State units on aging. As noted above, many incidents are not reported; thus, these numbers may undercount the extent of the problem.! From 1986 to 1996 there has been a steady increase in the reporting of domestic elder abuse nationwide: 117,000 reports in 1986; 128,000 reports in 1987; 140,000 reports in 1988; 211,000 reports in 1990; 213,000 reports in 1991; 227,000 reports in 1993; 241,000 reports in 1994; 286,000 in 1995 and 293,000 in 1996. The 1996 figure represents an increase of 150 percent since 1986. 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Reports of Domestic Elder 117 128 140 Thousands 211 Year 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1993 1994 1996 213 227 241 293! This study estimates that approximately 1.01 million elders were victims of various types of domestic elder abuse in 1996. This figure, however, excludes self-neglecting elders. If self-neglecting elders are added, the total number of elder abuse victims might be as high as 2.16 million individuals.! The median age of elder abuse victims was 77.9 years, according to 1996 data that excluded self-neglecting elders. The median age of selfneglecting elders was 77.6 years in 1996.! Neglect is the most common form of elder maltreatment in domestic settings. Of the nonself-neglect reports that were substantiated in 1996, 55 percent involved neglect. Physical abuse accounted for 14.6 percent in the same year, while financial or material exploitation represented 12.3 percent of the substantiated reports. In 1996, 66.4 percent of the victims of domestic elder abuse were white, while 18.7 percent were black. Hispanic elders accounted for 10 percent of the domestic elder abuse Types of Domestic Elder (1996) Physical Unknown 4% Financial/Material 14.6% Exploitation 12.3% Sexual All Other 0.3% Types 6.1% Emotional 7.7% Neglect 55.0% victims in the same year. The proportions of FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact the National Center on Elder at 1201 15th Street, NW, Suite 350, Washington, DC 20005-2800. Tel (202) 898-2586 Fax (202) 898-2583 E-mail NCEA@NASUA.org. NCEA Web site www gwjapan com/ncea Native Americans and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders were each less than 1 percent.
Use a separate sheet and staple it to this paper. 1. What is retelling? 2. Why use the retelling strategy? 3. What do you state first in a retell? 4. What do you explain next? 5. What do you explain next? 6. What words should you use? 7. What events do you tell? 8. What words should you use to keep the events in order? 9. What do you explain next? 10. What do you tell last? 11. What s the title? 12. Who s the author? 13. Where does this story take place? 14. Can you figure out what is going to cause a problem in this story? 15. Who are the characters you ve met so far? 16. What problem do they face? 17. What has happened so far in the story? Use words like first, second, third to keep the events in order. 18. Who is the new character? 19. What is this character trying to do? 20. What does the cruel young lord require? 21. What does the young farmer do? 22. What is the Lord Higa s second threat? 23. Who figures out a way around this one? 24. How is it done? 25. What is Lord Higa s third threat? 26. How is this one avoided? 27. Who keeps getting the credit for resolving these threats?
28. Finish the retelling. Use the Retelling Summary Sheet on p. 4 and p. 14 to organize your retelling. Don t forget to include the introduction, characters, conflict, complications, climax, resolution and personal response.