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P3‐226: Unmet needs and satisfaction with the help of patients with dementia and their caregivers at home in korea
Author(s) -
Park Myonghwa,
Kim Jinha,
Lee Song Ja,
Lee Hyeja,
Lee Dong Young
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2015.06.1598
Subject(s) - dementia , distress , activities of daily living , medicine , needs assessment , social support , test (biology) , gerontology , family caregivers , psychology , family medicine , psychiatry , clinical psychology , disease , social science , paleontology , pathology , sociology , psychotherapist , biology
Project Description: California has excellent laws on elder abuse, including enhanced penalties for crimes against elders. However, case studies establish that law enforcement response to elder abuse can be inadequate or inappropriate. A survey of law enforcement policies from California jurisdictions identified a root cause of inappropriate responses that are seen systemically throughout the state. Most law enforcement policies in California lack appropriate guidance on response to elder abuse. Elder abuse policies appear to lag decades behind domestic violence and child abuse policies. Many policies define elder abuse as a civil matter, leading officers to inform families that abuse of their loved ones must be addressed through private litigation in civil court. A number of policies instruct officers to arrest perpetrators that are related to the victim; there is no instruction to arrest unrelated perpetrators. A large county in southern California has a policy that was last updated in 1987, prior to enactment of the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act or establishment of enhanced penalties for elder abuse. A northern California city with a population of nearly one million residents has a duty manual that instructs officers to investigate elder abuse using a child abuse protocol, a protocol that lacks recognition of the rights or financial intrests of an adult. Discussions with district attorneys highlighted the unfortunate consequences of policy deficiencies. The district attorney of a densely populated southern California county stated that false imprisonment and isolation of an elder is a civil matter. A deputy district attorney in a populous northern California county echoed the opinion that false imprisonment and isolation is a civil matter. A deputy district attorney in a large southern California county stated the kidnapping, false imprisonment, and isolation of an Alzheimer’s patient was “nothing out of the ordinary.” When that department reviewed evidence of a male caregiver perpetrating repeated sexual assaults on the woman, they concluded there was “no evidence of a crime.” Protection of vulnerable elders requires appropriate law enforcement policy on elder abuse as a crimeworthy of investigation and prosecution. Current policy does not provide that protection.