ELDER ABUSE

Why is this important?

In Tuolumne County, 18.5% of our population is aged 65 and over. This is the third highest per capita rate in California. Tracking elder/dependent adult abuse trends helps the community to gauge its capacity to provide the support services needed to keep vulnerable and aged adults safe from abuse.

While supportive services are critical when dealing with self-neglect issues and criminal abuse issues, some of the factors affecting service provision include increasing numbers of elder adults, geographical isolation, individuals' lack of informal support networks, lack of affordable private health insurance, minimal subsidized housing, and funding reductions to service providers.

What is the measure?

Self-neglect reports include the inability to provide for basic food, shelter, and medical needs. Abuse by others is a crime and includes neglect; physical, emotional, sexual, and fi nancial abuse; isolation; and abandonment.

How are we doing?

Dependent adult abuse reports increased 21% between 2002 and 2004, while elder abuse reports decreased 33%. (See table footnotes for defi nitions.)

Tuolumne County has a signifi cantly higher number of dependent adult abuse reports in relation to the number of elder abuse reports, which seems to be the trend in other rural California counties as well.

The county developed multi-agency response teams to address abuse issues and coordinate elder and dependent adult services.