How Does Bullying Relate to Elder Abuse?

1. How Does Bullying Relate to Elder Abuse? Joe Snyder Director of Older Adult Protective Services Philadelphia Corporation for Aging jsnyder@pcaphl.org February 23, 2012

2. How Does Bullying Relate to Elder Abuse? • Physical and emotional abuse • A tool in financial exploitation

3. Elder Abuse is Deadly • Elder victims are three times more likely to die then non-abused seniors.(Lachs,1998)

4. Elder Abuse is Common • One million people turn sixty every month • There are up to four times more elder abuse victims then child abuse victims.(Lachs,2011)

5. Elder Abuse is Expensive • Elder abuse victims are four times more likely to go into a nursing home. • 9% of financial abuse victims may turn to Medicaid as result of the abuse.(Gunther,2010) • Financial exploitation of the elderly cost us $2.9 billion dollars a year.(MetLife Study,2011)

6. Elder Abuse • Is under reported, only 1 of 23.5 cases are reported (only 1 of 44 financial exploitation cases).(Lachs,2011) • Occurs largely in elder people’s homes rather than inside of facilities (95 % of seniors live at home).National Elder Abuse Incidence Study, 1995) • Is perpetrated by family member, caregivers, trusted advisors, and strangers.

7. Adult Protective Services: • Is the 911 system for elder abuse and abuse of younger adults with severe disabilities.APS is the last resort for many victims serves as a “safety net for the safety net”. • APS is the nations only victims services that receives no designated federal funding to serve extremely vulnerable victims of crime, abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

8. General Accounting Office Report on APS, 2011 • Funding for Elder Justice activities in 2009 equals $11.9 million dollars.(GAO Report, 2011) • Child Abuse Funded in 2009 for $8.3 billion dollars.(Stoltzfus,2009) • Animal Welfare Act 2009 funded for $21.5 million dollars. (U.S. Department of Agriculture 2009)

9. Who Does the Bullying? • Most common abusers are family member, most often adult children. • “Typical” abuser is a unemployed adult son that lives with mom or dad and is financial dependent upon them. • Grandchildren, Siblings, Caregivers, and Neighbors also included. • Substance abuse and mental illness, and gambling also seen amongst abusers.

10. Bullying by Trusted Others • Physical harm • Threats • Undue influence • Isolation

11. Abuse by Strangers and Scam Artists • Sucker list • Power and Control • Boiler Room • In the “Ether”

12. Common Scams • Lottery scams • Grandchild in distress • Charitable donations scams • Unsolicited work

13. Special Consideration that Make Elderly Vulnerable. • 35.6 million people living with dementia world wide in 2010.(World Health Organization 2012) • Will double to 65.7 million by 2030 • Will triple to 215.4 million by 2050 • Isolation • Fear • Unlikely to report

14. Recent Studies of the Aging Brain • University of Iowa researchers found normal aging of the brain lead to vulnerability.(Asp,2012) • Researchers at UCLA found that older people don’t respond readily to facial clues that suggest that a person may be untrustworthy.(Castle, 2012) • Mild Cognitive Impairment(MCI) • Harvard Researchers found ability to make astute financial decisions peaks at 53, takes a steady drop and a precipitous drop at 70.(Agarwal,2009)

15. So Let’s Recap • Largest, wealthiest, cohort in history • Isolation • Normal and disease related changes in the brain • Failure of government and society to even recognize

16. Adult Protective ServicesGreater Philadelphia Region Pennsylvania New Jersey 215-765-9040 (PCA) 215-348-0510 610-344-6350 610-490-1300 610-278-3601 609-265-5069 856-858-3220 -Philadelphia -Bucks -Chester -Delaware -Montgomery -Burlington -Camden • National Hotline • 800-677-1116

17. Research Citations • Lachs, Mark, et al (1998). The Mortality of Elder Mistreatment. Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 280, No. 5, 428-432: Abused seniors are three times more likely to die. • Lachs, Mark, Testimony before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, (3/2/2011). Washington, DC.: Elder abuse victims are four times more likely to go into nursing home. • The MetLife Study of Elders Financial Abuse: Crimes of Occasion, Desperation, and Predation Against America’s Elders, MetLife Mature Market Institute (June 2011), at p.2. The estimate is based on an analysis of newsfeed from April to June 2010. • Lachs, Mark, et al (2011) Under the Radar: New York State Elder Abuse Prevalence Study Final Report. Lifespan of Greater Rochester, Inc,; Weill Cornell Medical center of Cornell University New York City Department of the Aging: Elder Abuse is vastly under-reported: only one in 23.5 cases is reported to any agency ; for financial abuse it is one in 44 and for neglect 1 in 57. • The National Elder Abuse Incidence Study: Final Report Washington, DC: Administration for Children and Families & Administration on Aging, US Department of Health and Human Services: 90% of abusers are family members or trusted others • Government Accountability Office, RPT. No. 11-208 ( Mar. 2011), at 34: Elder Justice Stronger Federal Leadership Could Enhance National Response to Elder Abuse.

18. Research Citations • E. Stoltzfus, The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA):Background, Programs, and Funding, Congressional Res. Serv. R40899 (Nov. 4, 2009) • U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Svc., Animal Welfare • World Health Organization Report, 2012 • Asp E, Manzel, K Koestner B, Cole CA, Dengburg, N and Trandel D (2012) A neuropsychological test of belief and doubt: damage to ventromedical prefrontal cortex increase credulity for misleading advertising. Frontiers in Neuroscience. • Castle, El. Al. October 2012 • Agarwal, Sumit, John C. Driscoll, Xavier Gabix, and David Laibson. 2009. The age of reason: financial decisions over the life cycle with implications for regulation. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity: The Age of Reason: Financial Decisions over the Life-Cycle with Implications for Regulation.