Between 1 and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been
injured, exploited, orotherwise mistreated by someone on
whom they depended for care or protection.
(Elder Mistreatment: Abuse, Neglect andExploitation in an Aging
America. 2003.Washington, DC: National Research Council Panelto
Review Risk and Prevalence of Elder Abuse andNeglect.)
Presented below are selected findings from anational study of state
domestic elder abuse reports, conducted by the National Center onElder Abuse.
Data were collected from Stateadult protective service agencies and State
units on aging. As noted above, many incidents are not reported; thus,
these numbers may under count the extent of the problem.
§ From 1986 to 1996 there has been a steadyincrease in the
reporting of domestic elder abusenationwide: 117,000 reports
in 1986; 128,000 reports in 1987; 140,000 reports in 1988; 211,000
reports in 1990; 213,000 reports in1991; 227,000 reports in 1993;
241,000 reports in 1994; 286,000 in 1995 and 293,000 in 1996.The
1996 figure represents an increase of 150percent since 1986.The
median age of elder abuse victims was77.9 years, according to
1996 data that excluded self-neglecting elders. The median age of
self neglecting elders was 77.6 years in 1996.
§ Neglect is the most common form of eldermal treatment in
domestic settings. Of the non self-neglect reports that were
substantiated in1996, 55 percent involved neglect. Physical abuse
accounted for 14.6 percent in the same year, while financial or
material exploitationrepresented 12.3 percent of the substantiated
reports. In 1996, 66.4 percent of the victims ofdomestic elder abuse
were white, while 18.7percent were black. Hispanic elders accounted
for 10 percent of the domestic elder abusevictims in the same year.
The proportions of Native Americans and Asian Americans/Pacific
Islanders were each less than 1 percent.
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Credit reporting agencies
Experian:
www.experian.com
TransUnion: www.transunion.com
Equifax: www.equifax.com/home
Background checks
US Search:
www.ussearch.com/consumer/index.jsp
Background check gateway: www.backgroundcheckgateway.com
National Background Screening: www.nationalbackgroundscreening.com
Other Resources
National Center on Elder Abuse: www.elderabusecenter.org
Nurse Assistant registry - check the department of public health services & human services in your state
Elderly Protective Services - contact the local county Department of Social Services Adult Protective Services
Council on Aging - http://www.ncoa.org/
Center for Healthy Aging - http://www.healthyagingprograms.org/content.asp?sectionid=92
Better Business Bureau - http://www.bbb.org/
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