Benchmark Assignment- Administration and Protection
Dear Editor,
Following the question posed in your latest series in the local newspaper concerning the protectors of elderly population against crimes and harms they currently face, I feel obliged to answer this question given my understanding and further research on this matter. In essence, this letter will aim at critically analyzing this question for the comprehensive breakdown of the elderly persons’ protection.Central to my response to your question are various aspects that are worth mention. They include the individuals’ responsibilities for protection of elderly rights, comparisons of different entities, prevalence of elderly abuse, effects of fraud on the aging population and long-term care system, elder law services and available advocacy services for the aged persons.Find time to go through the practical details of my analysis of this issue for better comprehension of the same.
Individuals’ Responsibilities
Primarily, the protection of elderly individuals is a collective responsibility that everyone has no option but to take charge of it at different levels of care. The two levels of elderly care are the informal and formal care. In informal care of the elderly persons, families, friends as well as well-wishers with no basic training of elderly care are the main stakeholders of this kind of care. On the contrary, the formal kind of care is a professional-led type of care offered to elderly persons in formal settings such as hospital, long-term care facilities and government by trained caregivers(Doron, & Soden, 2012). That said, the specific responsibilities of each of these individuals in the protection of elderly rights are worth mention.
Given the blood ties to the elderly persons and more time spent with them, the families play an instrumental role in the protection of elderly persons’ rights. That is the case because families take responsibility of the protection of the elderly persons whenever their belovedones are unable to care for themselves. For instance, the families will seek to protect their own from harm or crime by staying with the elderly parents in their homes to look after them because of their incapability to protect themselves following their advanced age. However, the families should not take charge of the protecting the aged persons if they are still able to protect themselves(Doron, & Soden, 2012). As such, a prerequisite in this kind of protection is the inability of the elderly individuals to protect themselves due to loss of function.
On the contrary, friends and acquaintances assume responsibility of protecting elderly persons whenever the immediate family members are unavailable to do so or in cases of neglect by caregivers. Despite their contribution, friends’ choices for the elderly individuals cannot supersede the interests of family members. As such, whenever their choices are inconsistent with the family’s interests, the family interests if noble should take precedence(Doron, & Soden, 2012).
Besides, hospitals, community service organizations, and other long-term care facilities have limited responsibility of decision-making for elderly person. That is for sure since they take charge of decision-making only when the elderly patients/clients are unable to make well-informed decisions and have no close relatives or friend as well as advanced care directives to guide in the decision-making(Doron, & Soden, 2012).
Notwithstanding, the government is also a key stakeholder in the making of decisions relating to the individuals in advanced age. The responsibility of the government in making such decisions takes effect at the policy level where it enacts laws that seek to protect the welfare of this vulnerable population. The government has an active involvement in the protection of elderly persons given the development of state agencies and programs that seek to promote the welfare of the elderly persons(Doron, & Soden, 2012).
Lastly, in some cases, the older adults may not need outside protection given their capability to care for themselves. For instance, an elderly person that has an intact mental capability can develop an advanced care directive that will guide caregivers in the event he/she becomes incompetent to make decisions(Doron, & Soden, 2012). Thus, in this case, the protection is within the realms of the elderly persons’ directives.
Comparisons of Different Entities
Primarily, health entities such as private, nonprofit and public entities have distinct characteristics that are worth noting. A case in point of these distinctions is evident in the table below.
| Private | Nonprofit | Public | |
| Legal issues | Have no government regulations | Can make a profit but cannot dispense profits to stakeholders. | Guided by set government regulations(Singh, 2010) |
| Services | Limited to members of the private entity | Offers services for charitable purposes to the less fortunate | Provide affordable services to all without discrimination (low and high income earners) |
| Certification | Certified if admitting patients enrolled to Medicaid and Medicare Programs (Singh, 2010) | Certification is mandatory | Certification is mandatory given admission of patients enrolled to Medicaid and Medicare Programs (Singh, 2010) |
| Accreditation | Accredited through the Joint of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) | Accredited through the Joint of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) (Singh, 2010) | Obtained by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) for the protection of the public facilities, and helps developed the required state and federal standards |
| Auditing | Mainly internal audit but external audits for government regulated activities (Singh, 2010) | Internal audits | External audits by government-formulated committees (Singh, 2010) |
Prevalence of Elderly Abuse
Elderly abuse comprises of various types, namely, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, exploitation, and neglect of elderly persons. The perpetrators may include but not limited to children, family members as well as staff at nursing homes, and other long-term care facilities. Physical abuse relates to maltreatment that result in physical pain while emotional abuse occurs when an elderly becomes emotionally-disturbed due to verbal assaults, harassment, or intimidationleveled against him/her. As for the sexual abuse, elderly are under coercion to participate in sexual activities against their will. Neglect of elderly persons relate with persistent failure of individuals to meet the necessary needs of an elderly (physical, psychological and emotional). Finally, exploitation entails misuse or withholding the elderly individual’s resources (National Council on Aging, 2017).
Currently, in the USA, elderly abuse remains a concern given the many instances of this barbaric act. For example, according to the National Council on Aging, (2017)approximately 1 in 10 aged Americans (60+) are victims of some kind of elder abuse, which amounts to approximately 5million elders. Such a statistic is worrying and necessitates a quick fix of this situation if the elderly persons are to remain safe.
Effects of Fraud on the Aging Population and Long-Term Care System
Fraud in the healthcare sector is not healthy let alone to the elderly persons and long-term care system. That is for sure because fraudulent processes have upsetting implications on the aging population and long-term care system that are worth noting. For instance, an elderly person that hasan experience of fraud is less likely to take a large financial risk. Consequently, this will hamper the chances of securing better services in the future. On the part of the long-term care system, fraud will lead to decrease in financial investment in long-term care services given the distrust cultivated among the elderly due to past exploitation (Gamble, Boyle, Yu, & Bennett, 2014). That said, increased protection of elderly persons must target to reduce instances of fraud.
Elder Law Services
Further protection of the older adults is also possible by the various elderly law services. Such is the case given that failure to comply with the set laws may attract harsh penalties that major stakeholders strive to avoid. For instance, the Elder abuse Mandatory Reporting stipulated in the law is resourceful in the reduction of elderly abuse. Strengthening this claim is the fact that a high incidence of elder abuse attracts legal charges, which are harsh to bear. Long-term facilities have no option but to increase elderly persons’ protection with the aim of escaping the unbearable financial consequences (Doron, & Soden, 2012).
Available Advocacy Services
Currently, there are a number of advocacy services targeting the aging population. Befitting examples of such services include but not limited to National Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center, National Council on Aging (NCOA) and National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA). Persons aged 65 and above are liable to these services and can access them whenever there is need to do so. The efficacy of these advocacy services is indisputable given that through them elderly persons are empowered about their rights as well as protected against crimes, which enhances their safety (Day, 2017).
References
Day, T. (2017). Government Programs for Older Americans. Longtermcarelink.net. Retrieved 23 October 2017, from http://www.longtermcarelink.net/eldercare/area_agencies_on_aging.htm
Doron, I., & Soden, A. (2012). Beyond elder law: New directions in law and aging. Berlin: Springer.
Gamble, K. J., Boyle, P., Yu, L., & Bennett, D. (2014). The causes and consequences of financial fraud among older Americans.
National Council on Aging. (2017). Elder Abuse Statistics & Facts | Elder Justice | NCOA. NCOA. Retrieved 23 October 2017, from https://www.ncoa.org/public-policy-action/elder-justice/elder-abuse-facts/#intraPageNav0
Singh, D. A. (2010). Effective management of long-term care facilities. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
