Elder abuse happens much more often then thought

None of us are safe from abuse. When people become frail or lose their mental capacity, then bad people can take advantage of them. Elder abuse can come in the form of physical harm and neglect, emotional cruelty, or financial exploitation, and is more common than you would expect.

A couple of years ago a frail, confused, elderly person arrived in the emergency room with a fractured bone, bruises, sores, and was quite unclean. His family described that the patient had fallen

multiple times recently, and I could see his needs were overwhelming his care providers. If there hadn’t been physical abuse, there was at least neglect. After surgery and hospital care, we were able to send the patient to a nursing home. We all need to be aware when there might be possible physical abuse, and call for help when we see it.

Read more at (http://www.capjournal.com/opinions/columnist/elder-abuse-happens-far-too-often/article_6eb2f8da-5bbc-11e7-bc4a-ff313303b9dc.html)