World Elder Abuse Awareness Day to be observed Thursday

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Social workers from the Mahoning County Jobs and Family Services’ Adult Protective Service Unit will celebrate World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on Thursday by presenting a purple or white carnation as a token of appreciation to seniors at area day care centers.

The carnations, donated by area florists Full Circle, Blooming Crazy Florist and Gifts, Sweet Arrangements and Belmont Giant Eagle, are to be given to seniors at Senior Independence Adult Day Care, Easter Seals Adult Day Care, Senior Center Day Care and Park Vista “to show they are appreciated, not forgotten and that someone cares,” said Lenore Larubbio of the Adult Protective Service Unit.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day for Mahoning County, observed annually by the Adult Protective Service Unit on June 15, involves activities to bring greater recognition of mistreatment of older adults wherever they live throughout the world, and to highlight the need for appropriate action.

“It is intended to give abuse and neglect of older adults a global relevance that will sustain and move prevention efforts forward throughout the years to come,” Larubbio said.

Elder abuse is a global issue that affects the health and human rights of millions of older people around the world.

While most people think it can’t happen to them, an estimated 5 million older Americans are victims of elder abuse each year, said Lisa Solley, director of communications for Area Agency on Aging 11 Inc.

Experts in the field of elder abuse, law enforcement and other groups, are of the belief that for every case of elder abuse or neglect that is reported, as many as 23 cases go unreported.

“The troubling part about elder abuse is that about 90 percent is committed by the person’s own family member. Often, the victim puts up with it because they have no one else to help or take care of them, or they are too afraid to say anything for fear it gets worse,” said Solley.

The main goal of WEAAD Day is for the prevention of elder abuse as well as to increase society’s ability, through international and local collaboration, to recognize and respond to the mistreatment of older people in whatever settings it occurs, so that each individual can achieve an optimal quality of life in keeping with his or her cultural values and tradition.

Mahoning County has a large population of seniors and we need to take a stand and stop elder abuse, Larubbio said.

The Adult Protective Services Unit said elder abuse affects people of all backrounds, cultures and geographic locations and it is believed that only about one in five incidents are reported.

In 2016, it is estimated that Ohio received a total of more than 15,830 reports of elder abuse, neglect or exploitation, and more than 40 reports of elder abuse are received each day in Ohio.

The color purple symbolizes World Elder Abuse Awareness Day to help increase awareness and fight against elder abuse in the community; and residents are urged to wear purple to work on Thursday.

Communities and municipalities will make proclamations declaring June 15 as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and have events designed to raise their communities awareness of elder abuse.

With the incidents of elder abuse on the rise, health care professionals are encouraged to try to speak to the older adult person alone if they notice unusual bruising or if the caregiver is domineering and answering questions for the individual, she said.

Elder abuse takes on many forms besides physical abuse. It also includes emotional abuse, exploitation, fraud and self-neglect.

It is estimated that in 2016 one in five older adults were defrauded. The most popular scams involve telemarketers and mail fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice and National Council on Aging estimate that dishonest telemarketers take in an estimated $40 million a year, Solley said.