Old But Must Not Be Neglected - 1101 Words

Old But Must Not Be Neglected The frail, tiny elder was discovered shivering and with sodden clothes in the impoverished Suizhong County, China. When the volunteers from the aid station found her, she hadn’t eaten for days, and lived in the corner of the street. She was ill, hungry and disheartened after her adult children refused to take care of her vulnerable mother. Mrs. Han lived her lives in blessed calmness with her family including her husband, two sons, three daughters and eight grandchildren before her spouse passed away three years ago. She assigned her possessions to both sons including two houses, but she left nothing to her three daughters because that’s what she had. Mrs. Han intended to alternate her living places between†¦show more content†¦It is a worldwide problem. Elder abuse is happening everywhere now, in your state, your city, even on your street. Population ageing is an inevitable phenomenon due to the rising life expectancy and declining birth rates in Canada. Unfortunately, the overall rate of police-reported violence against elderly had increased by twenty per cent from 1998 to 2005 according to Statistics Canada. In addition, adult children were the largest perpetrators of elder abuse including, Neglect and Physical, Emotional, Financial and Sexual Abuse. Although it is a serious uprising social problem in Canada, elder abuse is always concealed from the community and ignored by the societies. Until us as a society raises social awareness of elder abuse and work together to prevent this problem, elder abuse will continue unabated, with destructive and damaging consequences for seniors. Elder abuse tends to be committed privately in the seniors’ home, mainly by their family members but victims are often reluctant to inform their abuse because of the dread of losing their only financial or other supports and fear of being institutionalized. Mr. Chan, a social worker who had experience in assisting elder abuse victims to recover in Hong Kong, said â€Å"Money and avarice are the major reasons why the adult children