Good NYT piece on how doctors are learning to better recognize financial abuse of the elderly. The article is here.
More information on elderly abuse and how you can help is here, the homepage of the National Center on Elder Abuse.
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Posted in Elder Abuse AwarenessElder Abuse Awareness
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is held annually on June 15. As part of the events surrounding this call-to-action, the National Center on Elder Abuse is once again running my PSA on the issue in movie theatres around the country. (A short article on that is here.) The PSA on YouTube is here, and my post last year on the PSA is here.
A couple articles on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day are here and here.
(Apparently, I have to get this out of my system today, so: herehearhierheerhareherehearheearheeeeerrrrreee. Whew.)
And some FAQs on Elder Abuse are here. Here’s perhaps the most important one, a general definition of elder abuse. If you see elder abuse, or evidence of it, please report it to the authorities immediately.
PSAs Redux on Elder Abuse Awareness
Some of you may recall that I’m a spokesperson for the cause of Elder Abuse awareness.
This piece from the DOJ site helps explain why this issue needs to be addressed as quickly as possible:
“In the United States, the issue of elder mistreatment is garnering the attention of the law enforcement, medical, and research communities as more people are living longer than ever before. This trend is expected to increase, as the U.S. Census Bureau projects that more than 62 million Americans will be age 65 or older in 2025, an increase of 78 percent from 2001, and more than 7.4 million will be age 85 or older, an increase of nearly 68 percent from 2001.[1] This aging population will require more care and protection than is currently available or possible.”
For help and information, please visit the Natl Center on Elder Abuse Awareness, at www.ncea.aoa.gov/.
Finally, I just learned from the NCEA that the PSA’s I shot for which played in a number of movie theatres last summer will also run this year, from late May to late June. My original post on them is here.
Elder Abuse PSA in Theatres
According to the best available estimates, approximately 700,000 to 3.5 million older Americans are abused, neglected, or exploited each year.
Unfortunately, that number may likely increase as the baby boomers age into elders, and more elderly are forced to move in with their adult children.
In November 2007 I shot some PSA’s (Public Service Announcements) for the KY Cabinet on Health & Family Services to help raise awareness of the issue in some small way. (A link to all of them is here, and an earlier blog post is here.) It was uncertain where and when the PSA’s would be shown.
But I’m happy to report the hard-working National Center on Elder Abuse has found a terrific use for them: From May 22 to June 18 one of my PSA’s will precede movie trailers on over 700 movie screens in more than 50 theatres around the country.
This is a fast, effective means of educating lots of people at once and hopefully moving awareness of elder abuse to the mainstream, where it belongs. Great work by the NCEA to reach people who can’t change the channel. : )
One last thing: Witness, the human rights advocacy org founded by Peter Gabriel, has posted the PSA here in their piece on Elder Justice.
Please educate yourself about this issue. The NCEA has simple FAQs here, and you can subscribe to their newsletter here.
Finally, and most importantly, if you suspect any abuse of the elderly, please report it to law enforcement immediately. Our elders deserve better.
Spread the word: October is Elder Abuse Prevention Month
October is Elder Abuse Prevention Month, a nationwide effort designed to shed light on a very serious but little-known (and often unreported) problem facing too many of our elderly citizens today. William Mapother has been very active in supporting the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), and has recorded several public service announcements (available here) in the hope of drawing attention to this crisis. Please take a moment to check out this article for more information and to find links to additional resources on the subject, and join William in his efforts to spread knowledge and awareness of the problem.
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