Cynthia Engstrom is a social worker with office of adult protective services of Guernsey County. She informed the club that with the baby boomers reaching the age of sixty, the number of people over sixty five will soon double. She said the number of cases of elder abuse will increase. Elder abuse may include physical abuse, emotional abuse, financial exploitation, sexual abuse, or neglect. It may include self-neglect or intentional or unintentional neglect from care givers. We can help stop or prevent this abuse by reporting it to the authorities. Look for signs of cuts or bruises or unexplained injuries. Look for unusual passivity, anxiety, cowering or lack of eye contact as signs of emotional abuse. This may result from intimidation or verbal humiliation. Malnourishment, dehydration, pressure sores, and lack of personal care may indicate neglect. Unusual or unauthorized business transaction or withholding financial support may indicate financial exploitation. Self neglect is defined as behaviors that threaten a person’s own health or safety or fail to meet their own physical, social or psychological needs. Factors that can contribute to self-abuse are a history of being unable to care for yourself, depression, dementia, illness, malnutrition and overmedication. Substance and alcohol use can also lead to self neglect.
“We have already had forty-two reported cases of elder abuse so far this year in Guernsey County,” Engstrom said. “Last year in Ohio we had sixteen thousand eight hundred forty three cases of abuse of individuals eighteen years of age or older. Some cases may go unreported because people are ashamed or may try to protect the abuser. It is important to put a stop to this kind of abuse.”For more information about elder abuse or to report it, contact Engstrom at 740-432-2381 or contact the Department of Job and Family Services on Highland Avenue.
