In this episode, Attorney Deirdre Lok from The Weinberg Center for Elder Justice in New York City, discusses a topic that many of us really don’t want to talk about- elder abuse. The abuse of older people.

It sounds unfathomable and cruel, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it is all too real. Any person, under certain circumstances, can fall prey to elder abuse.  It comes in quite a few forms and no two cases ever look the same.

The biggest culprit in elder abuse is…isolation. This is common for older people as their family and social circles becomes smaller as they age.  Hence…the title of the episode, eyes and ears everywhere are needed.

One in ten Americans over the age of sixty have experienced a form of elder abuse. The highest estimate is around five million people. Even so, the total numbers of elder abuse cases are underreported. Some statistics put the number of cases reported at one out of twenty-four.

The most common is financial abuse  but...it usually comes with other types. Abuse is never in isolation. 

If you don’t understand elder abuse, want to learn or, perhaps, are interested in working with older people,  Deirdre and Host Veronica Escobar, have a “soup to nuts” discussion about it all.

What is elder abuse? Who is affected by it?  How does the justice system aid victims? What can they do better? How did the Weinberg Center come into existence and how do they help those who need it most? What kind of people does The Weinberg Center help? Can this model be replicated elsewhere?  What can the public do to help?  

Working with older people brings challenges but it is also yields tremendous personal (and professional) rewards. Work should have meaning and this work certainly does as well as impact. 

The abuse of our aging population is everyone’s business.

We should all look out for one another, "Today for you and tomorrow for me."

To learn more about The Weinberg Center, go to: https://www.theweinbergcenter.org

To learn more about Aging Wisely: The Podcast, go to:  https://www.agingwiselypodcast.com