Advocates continue fight against elder abuse

By ETHAN HARTLEY
Posted 6/18/19

By ETHAN HARTLEY In observation of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Saint Elizabeth Community held their fourth annual recognition breakfast at the Crowne Plaza on Friday, June 14 to thank people from all across the spectrum of elder care for the work

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Advocates continue fight against elder abuse

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In observation of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Saint Elizabeth Community held their fourth annual recognition breakfast at the Crowne Plaza on Friday, June 14 to thank people from all across the spectrum of elder care for the work they do to promote elders’ rights and promote justice for elders who are abused or otherwise mistreated.

“The point is to bring people together who are working to help elders,” said Jeanne Gettegno, director of Saint Elizabeth’s Safe Haven program, which gives victims of elder abuse a temporary shelter and connects them with services to continue helping them after they leave. “Many of them are working with elders who are victims. So, we bring them together to acknowledge that, yes, the problem is still here and it’s still severe, but every day we’re getting better and better.”

Getting a firm grasp on just how severe the problem of elder abuse is in Rhode Island – and across the country for that matter – is not an easy task, considering that a vast majority of crimes against the elderly are not reported. According to the National Center on Elder Justice, each year one out of every 10 elders (age 60 and up) experiences abuse, but only one in 23 of those cases ever become known to authorities.

Advocates in the field attribute different reasons for this. Senior citizens may not even be aware that they’re being abused, as elder abuse isn’t simply physical acts of violence. Elder abuse can be psychological, emotional and financial in nature in addition to the more readily apparent physical or sexual crimes that also occur.

In some cases, elder abuse is perpetrated by somebody that the senior citizens knows, and is perhaps even related to or trusts. Those cases make reporting the crime even more unlikely.

“When it’s your family, when it’s your kid, people don’t want to turn their kids in,” said Steve Horowitz, president and CEO of Saint Elizabeth Community.

Other experts believe another reason may be the notion that an elderly person doesn’t feel as though someone will be willing to help them.

“Elder abuse is a worldwide problem. In the United States it still remains a silent problem – a silent epidemic,” said Roberta Merkle, executive vice president of Saint Elizabeth Community. “The elder is afraid to come forward, feels shame and embarrassment and as a system we often may not hear the clues or may not listen to what the elder is saying and, maybe more importantly, what they’re not saying.”

Regardless of what the total numbers are, the known number of elder abuse cases is rising. In Rhode Island, substantiated claims of elder abuse increased by more than 30 percent between 2014 and 2018. This, advocates say, is why national and worldwide days of raising awareness are so vital.

“What’s important about making people aware of the problem is that only with awareness and education will we be able to recognize the problem and therefore help more people,” Gattegno said.

Helping a vulnerable population

Attorney General Peter Neronha was on hand to talk about the resources available to senior citizens and their loved ones who experience any type of elder abuse. The Attorney General’s office has an entire portion of their staff dedicated to the matter, known as the Elder Abuse Unit, which investigates cases of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.

“This is a really important day and a really important topic,” Neronha said, who added that he was thankful to still have his father and mother with him, aged 90 and 84 respectively. “When I think about our elderly, I think about my own parents and I think about the work that you do, I think about their vulnerability … Providing a safe place is so critically important, and helping people understand that they need that safe place is also so critically important.”

Rose Jones, Director of the Department of Elderly Affairs, reminded everyone that Rhode Island law dictates suspicions of elder abuse must be reported.

“It’s really, really important for folks to understand that everyone is a mandatory reporter,” she said. “That is the law. We are all responsible to take action when we suspect abuse.”

Saint Elizabeth Community provides a vast network services to elders, from adult day care to long-term care and nursing facilities. The Haven program, which provides a temporary shelter and plugs seniors into the full range of assistance available to them in the state, is a small but growing piece of that network.

The group will be able to expand the Haven program more significantly now, as Saint Elizabeth received a $400,000 federal Department of Justice Grant last November. The first allocation of the three-year grant is $100,000 and is being utilized to bring key advocates together with the purpose of creating two “teams” of professionals, including a judge and a prosecutor, that will subsequently train members of the community – including caregivers, social service workers and law enforcement officers – to better identify signs of elder abuse and provide guidance on how to proceed once a case becomes known.

“The whole idea is when a person, whether in Westerly or in Woonsocket, reports that they might have been abused, the legal system, the social service system and the judiciary system all respond in the same way, equally,” said Gattegno. “That’s the goal.”

A key piece in ensuring justice for elders, Gattegno said, is to ensure that offenders are held accountable for their crimes.

“You can’t have safety without the offender being accountable,” she said.

Gattegno applauded the efforts of the Rhode Island community to address elder abuse, from the Attorney General’s office and their resources, to the elder abuse task force created by Sen. Cynthia Coyne, to the grant, which will enable more cooperation and cross-discipline education.

“Getting to the end of elder abuse is all about working together,” she said. “Helping an older victim, one person, is also a team effort. There isn’t any one person who can solve the problem.”

Rose Jones captured the big picture importance of helping senior citizens during an impassioned speech.

“The way we treat our elder citizens reflects our values as a society,” she said. “I love this state. It is my home. I was raised here. I was also raised to respect and revere and protect my elders. That’s my duty. That’s our duty. That’s our imperative.”

If you suspect an elderly individual is being abused in any way, contact the Department of Elderly Affairs abuse hotline at 401-462-0555. Its lines are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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  • Justanidiot

    guds fer them, i am always getting abused by elders

    Tuesday, June 18, 2019 Report this