For Immediate Release:
June 13, 2006
Contact:
Nanci Gonder
Office of Public Information
573-751-6062
Get out your purple for June 15. It's been officially declared World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is encouraging all Missourians to join the rest of the world in wearing purple that day to make everyone aware of elderly abuse. Other activities will begin in New Zealand and then travel the globe as daylight breaks, demonstrating the universal nature of elder abuse and the need for efforts to prevent it. The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) officially declared June 15 as awareness day. That day also supports the United Nations International Plan of Action, which recognizes the significance of elder abuse as a public health and human rights issue. “I urge Missourians to join citizens around the world and wear purple June 15 to raise awareness of the issue, which is largely treated as an unspoken problem,” said Julie Eckstein, director of DHSS. “No community or country in the world is immune from the mistreatment of older adults.”
In Missouri, the Department receives and investigates reports of elderly abuse and neglect. In fiscal year 2005, DHSS received 15,832 reports. Though this number is on the rise, the crime is vastly underreported because of the emotional bond between victim and perpetrator. Often seniors and disabled persons are socially isolated and physically and emotionally dependent on the perpetrator—likely a son, daughter, or caregiver—making it nearly impossible for them to report for fear of being institutionalized.
Of the 15,832 reports DHSS received in 2005, around 14 percent involved financial exploitation. Financial exploitation occurs when there is an illegal use of an elderly or disabled adult's resources for another person's gain . Nationwide, financial exploitation is the third most frequent type of abuse of seniors and persons with disabilities.
Anyone who suspects a senior or disabled Missourian is being abused, neglected or exploited should call DHSS' toll-free hotline, 1-800-392-0210.