The United States Department of Justice just launched the Elder Justice Initiative. Enter your zip code and it provides nationwide resources for victims of elder abuse and financial exploitation, their families, and practitioners who serve them.
The goal is not only to provide a central location for contact information, but also to facilitate further research.
“Research on elder abuse is expanding our knowledge about its causes, risk factors, outcomes and interventions. Research has shown, for example, that:
• Approximately one in ten seniors over the age of 60 is abused each year.
• Of those seniors abused, the majority are older women who live in the community rather than in nursing homes or other senior living facilities.
• Elder abuse is grossly underreported, with about 1 of every 23 cases of elder abuse being reported to appropriate protective services.
• Cognitive decline, even mild cognitive incapacity, is a pronounced risk factor for financial capability and therefore a risk factor for financial exploitation.
• Seniors who have been abused are more likely to be institutionalized in a nursing home or to be hospitalized than those not abused.”