Alarming Social Trend - It Can Happen to Anyone!
By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG Staff Writer
Not long ago, a Plattsburgh woman forced her dementia-impaired housemate to kneel on hot tarmac; a Utica man just last week was sentenced for letting his mother starve to death covered in her own excrement -- those are just two cases in an alarming social trend.
Across the nation and even in the North Country, the elderly are more often falling prey to those they love and trust the most.
In the last decade, there's been a drastic increase in the number of abuse and neglect cases involving the elderly and many more go unreported each year.
It can involve neglect, emotional trauma, physical abuse or financial exploitation and typically happens to people in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
"Elder abuse and mistreatment is an equal-opportunity social issue. It can happen to anyone," said Art Mason, of Lifespan of Greater Rochester, during a recent elder-abuse training seminar.
Not long ago, a Plattsburgh woman forced her dementia-impaired housemate to kneel on hot tarmac; a Utica man just last week was sentenced for letting his mother starve to death covered in her own excrement -- those are just two cases in an alarming social trend.
Across the nation and even in the North Country, the elderly are more often falling prey to those they love and trust the most.
In the last decade, there's been a drastic increase in the number of abuse and neglect cases involving the elderly and many more go unreported each year.
It can involve neglect, emotional trauma, physical abuse or financial exploitation and typically happens to people in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
"Elder abuse and mistreatment is an equal-opportunity social issue. It can happen to anyone," said Art Mason, of Lifespan of Greater Rochester, during a recent elder-abuse training seminar.
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