June is Elder Abuse Awareness Month. A DeKalb organization that helps senior citizens will have a walk to highlight the issues of neglect and abuse for this population.
Christi Coulter, the supervisor at Elder Care Services, said there are several types of abuse that elders face.
“Locally, there's a lot of financial abuse, so financial exploitation,” she said. “There's passive neglect, so where people are unintentionally causing somebody to not receive what they're needing to remain safe and as independent as possible.”
There’s also emotional, sexual and physical abuse. Coulter says the abuse is often done by someone the older adult knows.
There are certain signs that Elder Care Services recognize when a person is being abused. They can include:
“Withdrawing from social activities that they would normally with engage in, being fearful of outside people kind of knowing what's happening in the home,” she added, “not being able to explain or share information about their financial status.”
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day started in 2006 and is recognized by the United Nations. Elder Care Services started doing their walk a few years ago.
“We used to call it ‘Stripes for Change,’” she said, “and then we switched to the ‘World Elder Abuse Awareness Day Walk,’ because that's the, like, worldwide marketing stuff that's used.”
Retirement Living – Journal of Retirement Research reports that 1 in 10 older American adults face abuse each year.
The annual awareness walk takes place on June 15, which is also World Elder Abuse Day.
It starts at DeKalb’s Northwestern Medicine Health and Wellness Center at 11 a.m. and ends at 1pm. Registration can be completed here.
