elder abuse between United States and Australia
Introduction
Abuse to the elder people is a great problem to the society which often goes undetected. Worldwide, cases of elder abuse is said to increase as a result of many countries having an increased number of ageing population whose needs might not be easily met due to little or no resources. Often, victims are said to suffer from distress, sense of insecurity, anxiety, illness and depression. They might never fully recover from emotional trauma. Consequences of elder abuse can worsen greatly due to fear or shame of being institutionalized and may cause reluctance of seeking help from other people. Typically, victims are torn between feelings from those who take advantage of them and the great desire they have to speak about their problems. Elder abuse has religious, cultural and ethnic dimensions. Therefore, it can be defined as a repeated, or a single act or inappropriate action that occurs in any kind of relationship where expectations of trust are virtual that might cause distress or harm to an older person. Abuse ranges from what constitutes a criminal offence for instance physical abuse or sexual abuse to those that cause any kind of harm to the older person whether by commission or omission for example neglect caused by inadequate resources or difficult relationships with the care giver. However, abuse to the elderly differs in different countries and comparable data is available to outline the similarities and differences and even causes of elder n abuse in these countries. In this paper I will discuss elder abuse between United States and Australia which is increasing greatly as the ageing population increase.
Similarities
Stress among caregivers is said to be the great cause to elder abuse and great attention should be given to analyze the relationship between the older person and the caregiver in most countries. Personal problems from the caregiver for example emotional or mental illness, addiction to drugs, personal crisis or even job loss can lead to abuse to an older person. In Australia for example, a video from a spy camera secretly reviewed that Corey Lucas a caregiver had attempted force feeding a bedridden patient who could not walk or talk and ended pinning him down but he resisted. He was convicted and later apologized for his actions. Family stressors can contribute to elder abuse including discord that is created by a history or a pattern of violent interactions among the family members.
A study based on face to face interviews conducted in the United States shown that the most common type of abuse was financial abuse by either a family member or the society where physical abuse and sexual abuse were less common. Consequently, studies based on data collection from help lines provided insights to the occurrence of elder abuse in Australia. The most reported kind of elder abuse was financial abuse which accounted to 45% of the overall reports where sexual and physical abuse again has a less percentage.(yon & Wilber, 2017)
Consequently, various attitudes in the society may lead to violence among the older persons and may make abuse to continue without easily being detected. Older people are mostly viewed as insignificant in the society because they depend mostly on other people. Cultural beliefs, traditions and values influence family dynamics to some extent. Research in the United States identified lack of respect among the family members to older people.
Differences
It is projected that there has been over 25000 unreported cases of elder abuse in Australia per year. Unavailability of mandatory reporting requirements in any of the territories within Australia occurring at the community setting. It does not have a database for recording incidences of abuse, exploitation or neglect among the elder people. Cases of abuse therefore are extremely difficult to prosecute in courts because the country lacks laws governing elder abuse as well as incapacitated victims. However in the United States, laws governing neglect and elder abuse exist in both the state and the national level. Us code that consists of older Americans recognizes the value of older Americans and outlines the main objectives in protecting and safeguarding their rights.
Unlike in the United States, Australia do not have a basic strategy to measure prevalence. There is no detailed statistical data to shed light on prevalence and dynamics and effects under different circumstances.
Prevention measures
Efforts at the national level to galvanize action against abuse to the older people and different policies are being implemented all over the world. The United States has developed a system that they use for reporting and even treating cases of maltreatment to the elder people. The system mostly operates at a national level and the government support here is limited but gives technical assistance where needed. In Australia, a range of territorial laws were put in place to cover many diverse aspects. Policy frameworks have been established to cover the same but it does not cover all at a wider range.
Healthcare givers are also termed as important in prevention of elder abuse. In Australia, the medical profession has managed to impact positive results in the most rising concerns on elder abuse. However in the United States, they have lagged behind in social work and nursing professions. Very few interventions for the abused are carried out in hospital settings. Many doctors might not be in a position to diagnose abuse because it’s not part of their professional work and training. Minimal attention is paid to those who suffer from special needs in emergency rooms too.
Advocacy and creation of awareness in the United States is one of the major methods in prevention of abuse to the elder people which is mostly done through the media. Cultural and social norms such as tolerance to violence, gender inequality and ageism can cause maltreatment to older people in the society. People who define older people as weak, being a burden or even less worthy are major problems to older people. (Yunis & Choo, 2019) Therefore policies should mainly aim at creating awareness on the different ways in which abuse can arise and define different forms in which it can occur. Everybody should be in a position to recognize abuse and should have knowledge on the rights of elder people. Public campaigns have greatly been encouraged.
Conclusion
In conclusion, elder abuse has been seen to be a widespread growing problem with different manifestations in many cultures and countries. Legislative and legal approaches to cope with the problem still remain a challenge in various countries. However, a unique approach in United States for elder abuse in United States is criminalization unlike in Australia. Additionally, resources available to intervene and prevent elder abuse vary throughout the various nations. Intervention and prevention strategies are primarily being developed among developed countries. Scientific knowledge is therefore the key to develop an effective strategy which should be spread worldwide. Countries have to invest in research about technological innovations, evidence collection and providing care givers with advanced new tools for collecting, recording and keeping track to offenders and even spreading and sharing information among other agencies.