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Japanese Government to study abuse of elderly
Daily Yomiuri
June 16, 2003 Japan - As negligence and abuse toward elderly people who require home nursing care has become a serious issue, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will conduct the first nationwide survey into the situation, ministry sources said. The ministry will issue the result later this year and establish measures to prevent abuse of the elderly, the sources said. The survey will be assigned to the Institute for Health Economics and Policy, which will sample about 20,000 of the about 85,000 or so institutions nationwide about elderly abuse cases. The institutions will include those that coordinate with related organizations to provide the elderly who require home nursing care with counseling, health and welfare services; health centers; and home-visit nursing care stations that dispatch nurses to elderly people's homes to provide care based on family doctor directives. In each suspected case of abuse, the institute will study the relationship between the abuser and abused, and the service provided for the elderly among other details. The abuse against the elderly include the following: -- Physical abuse -- Negligence -- Mental abuse -- Sexual abuse -- Economic abuse--such as exploiting a recipient's pension payments Abuses are often attributed to the physical and mental burdens on families and caregivers, and some cases have resulted in murder. Unlike child abuse and domestic violence between spouses, there is no public institution that provides counseling services or accepts reports on elderly abuse cases. According to a survey by a group of researchers headed by Shukutoku College Prof. Toshio Tatara on about 730 nursing care institutions nationwide--including day service centers--1,008 cases of elderly abuse were reported in fiscal 1998 and 1999. The survey found more than 30 percent of the abuse cases were negligence, which included not providing sufficient food and drink and not changing diapers. In one case, an unemployed man allegedly beat his octogenarian mother and tied her to a piece of furniture. In another case, the son of a bedridden woman and his wife allegedly only fed the elderly woman a convenience store boxed-lunch once a day, and her futon was reportedly covered in human feces. Some observers say the introduction of the state-run nursing care insurance system in April 2000 may have reduced the burden on families and caregivers and reduced elderly abuse. Others say organizing the home-nursing care businesses has helped to bring the abuse issue to light. The Center for the Prevention for Elder Abuse, which opened a weekly help-line service in 1996, said it receives scores of calls from people concerned about elderly abuse every month. The callers include personnel who specialize in drawing up nursing-care plans and home helpers, according to the center. Nihon University Prof. Soji Tanaka, who heads the center, said: "Elderly abuse is a conventional issue in one sense, but a new issue at the same time. The causes are not only stress on the family and care-givers but also other family matters and on relationships with other people in general." "It's time for the government to study and analyze what type of elderly people are abused in what situations, and take action to prevent such abuse." Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
