The prevention of elder abuse recently was addressed by Kate Wilber, holder of the Mary Pickford Professorship in Gerontology, at the USC Davis School of Gerontology.

An audience of retired professors, USC Andrus Center volunteers, students, gerontology administrators and staff attended the Sept. 19 event, hosted by the USC Emeriti Center.

Elder abuse, Wilber explained, is a knowing, intentional or negligent act by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or serious risk of harm to a vulnerable adult.

Different types of abuse include physical, psychological, sexual, financial exploitation, neglect, abandonment and self-neglect.

“In the U.S., studies have found elder abuse currently affects between 4 to 5 percent of the population over 65 years old,” Wilber said. “More than three times this amount has been reported in social and health service organizations.”

In many cases, victims of abuse remain silent.

“Often the stigma of shame, fear of reprisal, disagreements on what constitutes abuse and the hidden nature of the problem keep people from reporting,” she said.

According to an Adult Protective Services survey conducted in 2004, self-neglect, or disregarding one’s own care, is the most common form of elder abuse, occurring in 37 percent of cases. Neglect (20 percent), financial (15 percent) and emotional abuse (15 percent) were the other most common forms of mistreatment.

Risk factors that make elders susceptible to abuse include social isolation, financial illiteracy and advanced age.

“After the age of 85, evidence indicates there is an increased need for fiscal management,” Wilber said.

Financial problems may begin with a call from fraudulent telemarketers or involvement in other commercial scams.

“Protection from con artists can be provided by automatic payment and deposit from banks, adding oneself to the ‘do not call’ list, establishing a checklist of legitimate charities and through effective guardianship,” she said.

Direct money management services that integrate social services and financial services also are available to at-risk elders.

“These agencies provide banking and accounting services, file claims, manage medical insurance and pay bills as well as carry out advanced directives,” Wilber said.

The most common perpetrators of elder abuse are adult children and spouses. Many of these individuals have mental disorders, abuse substances, are financially dependent on the victim and have cognitive impairments of their own.

The proximity of negligent family members makes identifying abuse difficult. Wilber called for preventive measures such as teaching elders to report problems to proper authorities, the importance of establishing support groups, education and training, the availability of protective placement and civil and criminal remedies.

One such program currently under way is the Los Angeles Elder Abuse Forensic Center, where Wilber is the lead gerontologist on a multidisciplinary team of professionals. The team provides expert and comprehensive case examination, documentation, consultation and prosecution of elder and dependent adult abuse cases.

“Elder abuse is largely hidden and the number of victims is increasing,” Wilber said. “People need to understand risk, dynamics and effective prevention and treatment approaches.”

In an open forum following the lecture, Robert Biller, professor emeritus in the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, called for a comprehensive national survey on elder abuse.

“Elder abuse is such a critical problem for this country, and we are still only trying to deal with its worst consequences,” he said. “We ought to think of more preventative and more fundamental remedies than we have so far.”