Identifying, preventing, and reporting elder abuse.
Elder abuse and neglect is a national public health problem with a profound negative impact on community health. Neglect is its most common manifestation, but other types of overt abuse are frequent. National initiatives are underway to use trained professionals, physicians and others, to act as community sentinels to uncover and help unknown victims. Pharmacy, with high visibility and easy access to seniors, must join other professions in this initiative to protect the vulnerable elderly. Reporting suspected abuse-the major tool of prevention-is a simple and time-efficient, though an often misunderstood, process. This article will teach community and consultant pharmacists to identify, prevent, and report senior abuse and discuss how patients benefit from such action. Abuse in institutionalized settings, which has wide coverage in the literature, will not be reviewed here.
Conry
Maura
M
Pharmacy & Social Work, Shawnee Mission, Kansas 66215, USA. maura@everestkc.net
D000368:Aged; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D010595:Pharmacists; D024382:Professional Role; D012307:Risk Factors