“Fraud”: Another Word For Elder Abuse

By Paul Hogan, Co-Founder and Chairman, Home Instead Senior Care® network

Elder abuse is among the most reprehensible of crimes against seniors. Regrettably, a study by the National Research Council estimated that there are between one and two million cases of elder abuse in the U.S.¹ and the Senate Special Committee on Aging has speculated that four times as many cases of abuse against older adults go unreported.²

Understandably, this subject strikes a chord – not only with organizations like the Home Instead Senior Care network®, but also with U.S. Government and law-enforcement officials, senior care advocacy groups, and all those who love and care about older adults.

This was particularly evident to me in December 2005, when I served as a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA). During this conference, we were asked to vote on 73 national aging-related resolutions, picking the top 50 and ranking them in the order of their perceived importance.

Elder abuse ranked number 15 in the final list, with the resulting initiative entitled, “Create a National Strategy for Promoting Elder Justice through the Prevention and Prosecution of Elder Abuse.” Consequently, the work done at the WHCoA has resulted in numerous proposed measures for identifying and dealing with this problem, including the following:

• Expanding Adult Protective Services (APS) funding to ensure adequate case managers to investigate and prosecute elder abuse and to train workers;
• Increasing penalties for those prosecuted for crimes against the elderly; and,
• Developing a national adult protective office within the Department of Justice to oversee training for judges, prosecutors and law enforcement in detecting and prosecuting crimes against the elderly.

Other suggestions included enacting legislation and policy changes that will help educate the public and strengthen the justice system. In addition, WHCoA delegates also recommended that the U.S. Government provide funding for research on all aspects of the mistreatment of seniors, including financial exploitation – one of the most common forms of elder abuse.²

Unfortunately, Home Instead Senior Care Franchise Owners, staff members and CAREGivers^SM all too often witness this type of fraud firsthand when it is perpetrated against their clients by unscrupulous individuals who call these seniors on the telephone, knock on their doors or otherwise solicit them for fraudulent purposes.

Our mission to help keep seniors living safely and independently in their homes for as long as possible includes helping protect older adults from those trying to take advantage of them.

So the Home Instead Senior Care franchise network is proud to serve as a second set of eyes to help deter tricksters and scammers. With the legacy they leave all of us, our nation’s seniors are treasured commodities that deserve to be shielded from criminals and thieves – a mission we can all feel good about embracing.

References: 1-2. 2005 White House Conference on Aging: Report to the President and the Congress; Online at http://www.whcoa.gov/

NOTE: Paul Hogan was named the International Franchise Association’s 2007 “Entrepreneur of the Year.” As a Nebraska state delegate to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA), Hogan led a session which addressed the issue of elder abuse, helping to establish important future priorities for U.S. senior-care policies.

Study Finds Nearly Half of People With Stroke Symptoms Not Calling 911

By Michael Steinberg, from the Home Instead Senior Care® office in Wichita, Kansas

Q. My 81-year-old aunt called recently and casually said the left side of her body “felt funny.” I had just gotten off a plane, and I went straight to Aunt Rosie’s house and took her to the hospital. It turns out that she had suffered a minor stroke, and she’s O.K. She lives alone, and I still don’t think she understands the urgency. Is this common with seniors?

Aunt Rosie isn’t the first stroke victim who has viewed her symptoms as minor. Despite efforts to inform the public of the urgency for rapid treatment for stroke victims and the effective treatments available, the number of patients using an ambulance for rapid transportation to a treatment center has not changed since the mid-1990s.

In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center said their research highlights the need for even more education about strokes.

The study, led by Dr. Hooman Kamel, a neurologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell and assistant professor of neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College, analyzed data collected by the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey between 1997 and 2008. “People do not always recognize the seriousness of stroke symptoms, or instead of calling 911, they may call their primary care physician for an appointment and lose valuable time as the damage becomes irreversible,” Dr. Kamel said.

The study found that 51 percent of adults diagnosed with stroke in emergency departments nationwide arrived via ambulance, with no significant change during the 11 years. Dr. Kamel said recovery is possible with early treatment. “We have drugs and surgeries that can minimize brain damage from a stroke,’’ he said, “but they can be used only within a few short hours.”

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a 911 call should be made if any of these symptoms are experienced:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body;
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding;
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes;
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination;
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.

While Aunt Rosie should be aware of those symptoms, it also might be time to consider additional support. A Home Instead CAREGiverSM could help with medication reminders, meal preparation, light housekeeping, companionship, transportation, errands and shopping, and serve as a second set of eyes to make sure she is safe at home.

For more information about Home Instead Senior Care®, contact Michael Steinberg at 316-612-7541 or go to http://www.homeinsteadwichita.com. For more about the study, check out http://nyp.org/news/hospital/study-stroke-symptoms-hooman.html. The Home Instead Senior Care network’s 2012 Family Caregiver Support Web Seminar Series features monthly seminars for family caregivers on a variety of topics that can help them care for their aging loved ones. Learn more about the topics and preregister at Caregiverstress.com/familyeducation.