FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 7, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 19
A Call to Action for Elder Abuse Awareness Month
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June is Elder Abuse Awareness
Month, making it an appropriate time
to raise awareness about this pressing
issue in order to protect older adults
from the eff ects of physical, emotional
and fi nancial abuse.
Seniors who have experienced even
modest abuse are at 300 percent greater
risk of death when compared with seniors
who have suff ered no abuse, according to
research reported in the Journal of the
American Medical Association. And with
nearly two-thirds of Americans age 65
and older now using the internet – and
many owning smartphones – technology
is making one form of elder abuse,
fi nancial crimes, even easier to commit.
All too oft en, the Department for the
Aging’s Elderly Crime Victims Resource
Center encounters these cases. One that
comes to mind involves an 81-year-old
woman whose unemployed son lived
with her and received an “allowance.”
Following a disagreement, the son
allegedly physically attacked his mother,
prompting another relative to call the
police. Th e elder abuse victim declined
to help with her son’s prosecution, but
she changed her mind aft er receiving
counseling through the Department’s
Providing Options to Elderly Clients
Together program. PROTECT helped the
victim cope with her depression and the
denial from her son’s actions, allowing
her to break free from her abuser and
to reunite with other relatives. Now, she
also attends a senior center, reducing her
social isolation and allowing her to form
new connections with peers.
Along with the PROTECT program,
the Department continues to strengthen
its relationship with health care providers.
Working with Weill Cornell Medicine,
we have formed multidisciplinary
teams that respond to complex elder
abuse cases. These MDTs are made
up of social workers, gerontologists,
psychologists, forensic accountants
and other professionals. MDTs are fully
operational in Brooklyn and Manhattan;
the Bronx and Queens MDTs are
expected to be up and running in the
fall, with Staten Island’s MDT starting
later in the year. Th e Department for the
Aging also works with police offi cers,
district attorneys, the Human Resources
Administration and Adult Protective
Services to assist victims.
In each borough, DFTA’s partners in
the aging services network provide elder
abuse counseling and services at the
community level, which means victims
don’t have to go far for help.
If you or anyone you know is a
victim of elder abuse, call 311 and ask
for help. Victims shouldn’t suffer in
silence.
DONNA CORRADO,
Commissioner of the City’s
Department for the Aging
In 2016, the Department for the Aging launched
an elder abuse awareness campaign.