Every year an estimated 2.1 million older Americans are victims of physical, psychological, or other forms of abuse and neglect.
Butler County’s Prevention of Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation (PEANE) Committee is providing a two-day seminar titled “Identifying, Prosecuting, and Preventing Elder Financial Abuse” March 27-28.
The seminar will be held in Augusta at the First United Methodist Church, 2420 N. Ohio.
For more information and to reserve your seat contact Melody Gault at the Butler County Department on Aging 775-0500 or 1-800-279-3655.
 For every case of elder abuse and neglect reported to authorities, experts estimate that there may be as many as five cases not reported. Research suggests elders who have been abused tend to die earlier than those who are not abused, even in the absence of chronic conditions or life threatening disease.
In almost 90 percent of the elder abuse and neglect incidents with a known perpetrator, the perpetrator is a family member and two-thirds of the perpetrators are adult children or spouses.  Because elder abuse almost always occurs within the home, it is without a doubt under reported.  It remains the dark secret within the family.  It is estimated that only one of 14 domestic elder abuse incidents come to the attention of authorities. 
Abuse:  Any act or failure to act performed intentionally or recklessly that causes or is likely to cause harm, including:  infliction of physical or mental injury; sexual abuse; unreasonable use of physical or chemical restraint, isolation or medication; threat or menacing conduct; fiduciary abuse; and, omission or deprivation by a caretaker or another person of goods or services which are necessary to avoid physical or mental harm or illness.
Neglect:  Failure or omission by one’s self, caretaker, or another person with a duty to supply or provide goods or services, which are reasonably necessary to ensure safety and well-being and to avoid physical or mental harm or illness.
Exploitation:  Misappropriation of an adult’s property or intentionally taking unfair advantage of an adult’s physical or financial resources.
Providing the public, professionals who work with the elderly, senior citizens and their caretakers with the signs of abuse and how to prevent further abuse we can begin to move toward ending elder abuse altogether. 
 CEU’s available.
To report suspicions of abuse please contact Adult Protective Services by dialing 1-800-649-7841