Nursing action in the face of elder abuse
Section: Trabajo Fin de Grado
How to quote
Pellicer García B, Juárez Vela R, Delgado Sevilla D, Redondo Castán LC, Martínez Riera JM, Echaniz Serrano C. Actuación de enfermería ante el maltrato sobre la población anciana. RIdEC 2013; 6(2):35-9.
Authors
1Begoña Pellicer García, 2Raúl Juárez Vela, 1David Delgado Sevilla, 3Luis Carlos Redondo Castán, 4José Ramón Martínez Riera, 3Emmanuel
Position
1 Graduado/a en Enfermería por la Universidad San Jorge (Zaragoza).2 Profesor. Universidad de San Jorge (Zaragoza). Asocia
Contact email: rjuarez@usj.es
Abstract
Nursing action in the face of elder abuse
World Health Organization (WHO) has define abuse as "a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person". Occurrence of such events is hard to understand by the community and, in elder population it does not result in the same social concern as in child abuse. Its prevalence is, however, similar.
Social and economical changes have contributed to current weakness of family and community supporting nets. Multidisciplinary care teams for elderly people must report abuse to authorities and intervene to preserve elderly fundamental rights and human rights and to provide appropriate care.
Prevalence estimation of suspected abuse in elderly people is about 11.9%. Most common suspected abuse perpetrators are victim\'s family members themselves, at home. This is an issue of great magnitude not to be neglected. Lack of validated direct scales allowing to diagnose elder abuse is a significant limitation. Nurses play a significant role in abuse detection, not only by means of observation and assessment, but also through interviews with patients, caregivers and other related individuals to recognize and assess potential risk factors. Prevention should be focused on family, local community and immediate surroundings. Lay people should be aware of available and existing resources.
We feel that availability of an appropriate scale added to our understanding and attitudes as nurses would make our current actions much more effective.
World Health Organization (WHO) has define abuse as "a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person". Occurrence of such events is hard to understand by the community and, in elder population it does not result in the same social concern as in child abuse. Its prevalence is, however, similar.
Social and economical changes have contributed to current weakness of family and community supporting nets. Multidisciplinary care teams for elderly people must report abuse to authorities and intervene to preserve elderly fundamental rights and human rights and to provide appropriate care.
Prevalence estimation of suspected abuse in elderly people is about 11.9%. Most common suspected abuse perpetrators are victim\'s family members themselves, at home. This is an issue of great magnitude not to be neglected. Lack of validated direct scales allowing to diagnose elder abuse is a significant limitation. Nurses play a significant role in abuse detection, not only by means of observation and assessment, but also through interviews with patients, caregivers and other related individuals to recognize and assess potential risk factors. Prevention should be focused on family, local community and immediate surroundings. Lay people should be aware of available and existing resources.
We feel that availability of an appropriate scale added to our understanding and attitudes as nurses would make our current actions much more effective.
Keywords:
abuse; elder person; prevalence
Versión en Español
Título:
Actuación de enfermería ante el maltrato sobre la población anciana
