In 30 years the U.S. Population of those 65 and older will nearly double. That’s according to the U.S. Census Bureau.This growing population is also an alarming target of abuse. Be it identity theft, emotional and physical abuse or negligence, for every 1 in 10 reported cases by the CDC an estimated 24 cases are unknown. Many times this abuse takes place in the victim’s own home.
Caroline Giegerich’s grandfather Mr. Bush lives in Cadiz, Kentucky.
“I love my grandfather, I love my grandfather. And I can’t stand to see people mistreat someone who can’t talk care of himself and I feel that way about any elderly person.” Giegerich explained.
Giegerich’s story is a complicated one. Her grandfather became ill with hemoglobin loss. The symptoms, she says, mimic a stroke. “He was left somewhat incapacitated both mentally and physically. His neighbor moved in to take care of him.” Giegerich said.
Giegerich thought it was a blessing that a neighbor they had known for years offered to help. She and the rest of the family lived hours away with full time jobs. But, something didn’t seem right about this neighbor.
“What we found out was that the neighbor was not who he seemed to be, the neighbor was actually abusing him by letting him live in squalid conditions... he was basically living in a sewer when I finally arrived in October. He was also stealing from him to the tune of $30 thousand dollars. This wasn’t exactly evident over phone calls, but some weird things started happening.” Giegerich said.
Giegerich finally packed up her things and drove to Cadiz. When she arrived her grandfather was in a state where he no longer wanted to live. She says he was incontinent and couldn’t make it to the bathroom. It was a mess. Floors were ruined. The fridge was full of months old food. And, he wasn’t receiving his proper medication. This was all happening while the caretaker was being compensated for 24 hour care. This is just the beginning of Giegerich’s issues. We take a closer look at the legal repercussions for this behavior in a later part of the series.
But, scenarios similar to this, don’t have to happen...
Pennyroyal Elder Abuse Council representative Cindy Hancock says “I call it Susie from the church.”
She says the prevalence of elder abuse is known to everyone who works in the industry and it’s hard to calculate because this generation is private. Hancock says admitting abuse can translate into needing more help or becoming more dependent, and unfortunately, she hears stories like Giegerich’s every day.
“Susie from the church, she is great, everybody uses her. Well did anyone check her criminal background record? Did they check for drug testing? Did they do any kind of reference check other than well, ‘she sat for daddy’, well what was she doing while she sat for daddy?” Hancock said.
Barbara Naugle is a sitter. She does it to supplement the income of her other full time job. She has been doing it for more than 20 years. But Naugle warns that everyone isn’t cut out for the job. She details one instance in which a client’s needs and her colleagues’ efforts didn’t match.
“This woman had arthritis in her hands, well we did her shopping for her. Well they would go to the grocery store and buy her canned stuff and she couldn't cook for herself and I would just get so aggravated.” Naugle said.
Naugle worked for an agency. The agency performs background checks on all its employees and is licensed, bonded and insured. In other words, if something happens, there is someone who is accountable. She says it's important that these people can be trusted.
“You know when you get in an older person’s house they aren’t going to know if something has been stolen, you know if they aren’t in their right mind, and that makes them vulnerable.” Naugle said.
Cindy Hancock with the Pennyroyal Elder Abuse Council says there is really only one benefit for a client to seek-out someone that is not with an agency, it’s more affordable. Unfortunately the common theme in home care seems to be word of mouth. There are caregiver misconduct registries to help mitigate abuse, though they are only open to registered service providers. Hancock says most importantly is communication between family.
But elder abuse is a catch 22 The National Center on Elder Abuse reports that 90 percent of abusers are family members.
