Question

Examine international legal and ethical regulations for elderly abuse and compare them with legal and ethicak regulations in your country

Answer 1

Question

Examine international legal and ethical regulations for elderly abuse and compare them with legal and ethical regulations in your country.

Answer:

Elder abuse is a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person. This type of violence constitutes a violation of human rights and includes physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional abuse; financial and material abuse; abandonment; neglect; and serious loss of dignity and respect.

Developed and developing countries address the issues of the aging population in different ways. In developed countries, for example, a social security apparatus bears the strain of caring for the elderly. In developing countries, on the other hand, families traditionally care for the elderly. In these developing countries, the lack of a social security apparatus and the weakening of the family unit present obstacles to the provision of care for elderly family members.

Scope of the problem

Elder abuse is an important public health problem. A 2017 study based on the best available evidence from 52 studies in 28 countries from diverse regions, including 12 low- and middle-income countries, estimated that, over the past year, 15.7% of people aged 60 years and older were subjected to some form of abuse .

This is likely to be an underestimation, as only 1 in 24 cases of elder abuse is reported, in part because older people are often afraid to report cases of abuse to family, friends, or to the authorities. Consequently, any prevalence rates are likely to be underestimated. Although rigorous data are limited, the study provides prevalence estimates, drawing on all available studies, of the number of older people affected by different types of abuse.

Abuse of elders or Seniors takes many different forms with some involving neglect, some involves financial deception, and other involving intimidation or threats against the Senior. Here are 6 most common types of elder abuse:

Physical Abuse

Any non-accidental use of force against an elderly person that results in physical pain, injury, or impairment is classified as physical abuse against Seniors. This kind of abuse includes not only physical assaults such as hitting or shoving the Senior, but also the inappropriate use of drugs, restraints, or confinement against the Senior’s will done by another person.

Emotional or Psychological Abuse

This kind of abuse happens when people speak to or treat elderly people in ways that results in emotional pain or distress for the Senior.

Verbal forms of emotional elder abuse can take the form of:

• Intimidation through yelling or threats
• Humiliation & ridicule
• Habitual blaming or scapegoating

Nonverbal psychological elder abuse include:

• Ignoring the Senior
• Isolating the Senior from friends or activities
• Terrorising or menacing the Senior

Sexual Abuse

Any sexual contact with a Senior without the Senior’s consent is categorised under sexual elder abuse. This can involve physical sex acts, but activities such as showing a Senior pornographic material, forcing him or her to watch sex acts, or forcing them to undress without their consent are also considered sexual elder abuse.

Neglect or Abandonment by Caregivers

This particular type of elder abuse constitutes more than half of all reported cases of elder abuse. It can be intentional or unintentional, based on factors such as ignorance or denial that a Senior needs as much care as he or she does.

Financial Exploitation

This involves unauthorized use of a Senior’s funds or property, either by a caregiver or an outside scam artist.

An unscrupulous caregiver might:

• Misuse a Senior’s personal checks, credit cards, or accounts
• Steal cash, income checks, or household goods
• Forge the Senior’s signature
• Engage in identity theft

Typical financial scams or fraud that target elders include:

• Announcements of a “prize” that the elderly person has won but must pay money to claim
• Fake charities
• Investment fraud

Healthcare Fraud & Abuse

This is often carried out by unethical doctors, nurses, hospital personnel, and other professional care providers. Some examples of this kind of abuse include:

• Not providing healthcare, but charging for it
• Overcharging or double-billing for medical care or services
• Getting kickbacks for referrals to other providers or for prescribing certain drugs
• Overmedicating or under medicating
• Recommending fraudulent remedies for illnesses or other medical conditions
• Medicaid fraud

Prevention

Many strategies have been implemented to prevent elder abuse and to take action against it and mitigate its consequences. Interventions that have been implemented – mainly in high-income countries – to prevent abuse include:

• public and professional awareness campaigns
• screening (of potential victims and abusers)
• school-based intergenerational programmes
• caregiver support interventions (including stress management and respite care)
• residential care policies to define and improve standards of care
• caregiver training on dementia.

Efforts to respond to and prevent further abuse include interventions such as:

• mandatory reporting of abuse to authorities
• self-help groups
• safe-houses and emergency shelters
• psychological programmes for abusers
• helplines to provide information and referrals
• caregiver support interventions.

Evidence for the effectiveness of most of these interventions is limited at present. However, caregiver support after abuse has occurred reduces the likelihood of its reoccurrence and school-based intergeneration programmes (to decrease negative societal attitudes and stereotypes towards older people) have shown some promise, as have caregiver support to prevent elder abuse before it occurs and professional awareness of the problem. Evidence suggests that adult protective services and home visitation by police and social workers for victims of elder abuse may in fact have adverse consequences, increasing elder abuse.

Multiple sectors and interdisciplinary collaboration can contribute to reducing elder abuse, including:

• the social welfare sector (through the provision of legal, financial, and housing support);
• the education sector (through public education and awareness campaigns); and
• the health sector (through the detection and treatment of victims by primary health care workers).

In some countries, the health sector has taken a leading role in raising public concern about elder abuse, while in others the social welfare sector has taken the lead.

Globally, too little is known about elder abuse and how to prevent it, particularly in developing countries. The scope and nature of the problem is only beginning to be delineated. Many risk factors remain contested, and the consequences and evidence for what works to prevent elder abuse is limited.

WHO response

In May 2016 the World Health Assembly adopted a Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health that provides guidance for coordinated action in countries on elder abuse that aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals.
In line with the Global strategy WHO and partners collaborate to prevent elder abuse through initiatives that help to identify, quantify, and respond to the problem, including:

• building evidence on the scope and types of elder abuse in different settings (to understand the magnitude and nature of the problem at the global level), particularly in low- and middle-income countries from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, for which there is little data;
• collecting evidence and developing guidance for Member States and all relevant sectors to prevent elder abuse and strengthen their responses to it;
• disseminating information to countries and supporting national efforts to prevent elder abuse; and
• collaborating with international agencies and organizations to deter the problem globally.

Elder law in India

The rights of older persons are the entitlements and independence claimed for senior citizens (i.e. above 60 years of age). Elderly rights are one of the fundamental rights of India. The International Day of older persons is celebrated annually on October 1.

The 2001 census of India demonstrated that aged people in India have crossed over 100 million. Many older people in India are not alert about the human rights of older persons, due to high occurrence of illiteracy and lack of alertness. Elder illiteracy directly contributes to a lack of knowledge regarding the human rights for older people in India, and contributes to the infringement of those rights.

Governmental concessions and facilities

The government of India provides various concessions and facilities to its senior citizens.The Union Cabinet's latest decision to approve a new law - Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, aimed at serving the elderly live in self-respect and peace. The Bill to be introduced in Parliament this monsoon session includes provisions to guard India's senior citizens besides specifically prescribing the State's role in taking care of them. The Bill also places a legal responsibility on children and relatives to maintain the senior citizen or parent in order to facilitate seniors with a normal life. This obligation applies to all Indian citizens, including those who live abroad. The offspring and relatives of seniors will be required to provide sufficient support for senior citizens, while the state governments will create old age homes in every district.