Elder Abuse Prevention Strategies
Elder Abuse – Senior Safety Episode
•Show Concept – The Elder Abuse/Senior Safety topic will be a 4-part series that shows the different types of elder abuse that exist, educates viewers on community resources, and provides tips for keeping yourself and your family safe. The episodes will not focus on following one individual or family through an entire abuse scenario, but will instead highlight several abuse scenarios. Each segment will be 30 minutes.
General Background
•Types of elder abuse
•Physical Abuse - Inflicting, or threatening to inflict, physical pain or injury on a vulnerable elder, or depriving them of a basic need. •Emotional Abuse - Inflicting mental pain, anguish, or distress on an elder person through verbal or nonverbal acts. •Sexual Abuse - Non-consensual sexual contact of any kind. •Exploitation - Illegal taking, misuse, or concealment of funds, property, or assets of a vulnerable elder. •Neglect - Refusal or failure by those responsible to provide food, shelter, health care or protection for a vulnerable elder. •Abandonment - The desertion of a vulnerable elder by anyone who has assumed the responsibility for care or custody of that person.
•Visuals
•Open show with a support group of people/families that have been victims of abuse •Have 4 personal stories
i.Physical & mental abuse
ii.Sexual abuse
iii.Exploitation
iv.Neglect/abandonment
•Jump into a training session with DCF training law enforcement? i.Discuss the different types of abuse
ii.Show pictures of abuse
•Filming a home that shows clear signs of neglect/abandonment •Taking a family member into a bank to withdraw funds
•Show training session with law enforcement
•Fast facts
•Short cameos of people who have been abuse or caregivers who have had a loved one abused
•What are the “take-away” messages
•You are not alone – these things happen
•Elder abuse should be reported
•Fraud is real … it happens every day
•It is important to ask questions and verify information
•Focus on prevention
•What happens if you don’t get involved
•It’s better to have hard questions now with your family, then to try and repair the damage after it’s done •Provide a better understanding of how the Department of Children and Families – Adult Protective Services functions … if you call the hotline and a case is opened •Provide tips for families … safety awareness
•Elder abuse is an emerging issue in communities … what should we expect in the future (we are with elder abuse … where the community was 20 years ago with child abuse)
Episode 1 – Abuse
•What is the definition of abuse
•What are the different types of abuse
•Today’s focus is “abuse” (neglect & abandonment will be 2nd, Exploitation - 3rd, resources & prevention – 4th) •Abuse
•What is “abuse”
•What are the warning signs of “abuse”
•Where do you report abuse (and to which agencies)
•How do these agencies investigate cases of abuse
•Scenarios
•Scenario 1 – typical abuse case
•Scenario 2 – person with severe mental health capacity who lives in a nursing home is sexually assaulted and becomes pregnant •Scenario 3 – nursing home
•People in this episode
•Ombudsman - talks about the fine line of “abuse” in a nursing home setting •Child abuse expert – talks about the history of child abuse and how it has become a more newsworthy topic over the years … now our community is starting to explore the issue of elder abuse •Law enforcement officer
•Victim advocate
•DCF Director – what their role is in abuse cases
•Lawyer to summarize elder abuse
•Families who have had an elder abused
•Nursing home administrator – to talk about steps they take to prevent abuse
Episode 2 – Neglect & Abandonment
•Today’s focus is neglect, including caregiver neglect and “capacity to consent” neglect, and abandonment •Neglect & abandonment
•What is...
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