By Pamela D Wilson, The Care Navigator, CSA, MS, BS/BA, CG
Literature continues to explode relative to caregiving, caregivers and compromised care, commonly called elder abuse. But what type of action is really considered abuse?
Risk factors for potentially harmful informal caregiver behavior are examined in the February 2005 issue (Vol 53, No. 2) of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study focuses on elements of caregiver behavior that are detrimental the care of an older adult but may not be serious enough to report to law enforcement authorities. Tis type of abuse is more prevalent than many think.
Several years ago I was involved in setting up care for a married couple living in Lakewood. When I met the wife who we'll call Mary, she was recovering from a hip fracture in a local nursing home. She was a petite woman and very sweet. The neighbors, concerned about their welfare, had been helping the couple for some time because they had no children and both were in their nineties. The first time I met the husband he was resistant to the idea of having strangers, caregivers, in his home. However he did realize that if his wife was to return home he would need help caring for her because his health was not good.
Imagine this, you're 85 years old and live alone. You have no family or at least no family nearby. You fall and after a brief hospital stay are transferred to a nursing home for rehab. After 20 days the social worker at the nursing home tells you that you are on private pay services and can leave anytime, however the physician recommends that you do not return home. Even you realize you need care and should not return home. What now? You have no idea how to search for an appropriate assisted living or where to start. The thought of selling your home and sorting through your belongings is more than you can even imagine. You're scared that you will never leave the nursing home but don't know what to do and in the meantime you're paying $200 plus per day for care and are concerned about the effect on your finances.
You're a busy person. In the course of a day you purchase a morning cup of coffee at Starbucks, put gas in your car at the local Conoco station, make an online purchase, open your mail and toss it in the trash, buy groceries on your way home from work. If you're an older individual who is retired you may receive telephone solicitation calls, mail from charities needing donations or a friendly e-mail from your bank wanting to confirm your personal information. We all complete multiple activities in a single day that can compromise our identity and our financial well being.