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Abuse of Black elderly a growing area of concern

By Saeed Shabazz -Staff Writer- | Last updated: Oct 15, 2010 - 3:09:32 PM

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The University of Pittsburgh's Center for Social and Urban Research has literally opened the proverbial “Pandora's Box” with their study released on Oct. 4 that elderly Allegheny County residents are at a much higher risk for financial exploitation and mental abuse if they are Black.

According to Dr. Scott R. Beach Ph.D. the associate director of UCSUR, this study is one of the first to find statistically significant racial differences in the prevalence of elder abuse.

The 14-page report, published in “The Gerontologist,” explained that Black elderly are five times more likely than other seniors to indicate they had been financially exploited within the past six months; and twice as likely to have been psychologically mistreated during the same period of time. The alarming statistic, however, is that of the 900 people surveyed Blacks counted for 28 percent of those abused, while constituting only 12.9 percent of the general population.

Dr. Beach was asked by The Final Call if the study had national ramifications. “It is unclear whether the results here in Allegheny County generalize as a whole, and further study is required,” Dr. Beach answered in an email. “There have been very few population-based surveys of elder mistreatment, so we don't know a whole lot about the prevalence or severity of this problem. As for why we chose to look at racial differences, [even though] there has been a lot of work on racial disparities in the health care system, this study suggests another potential area of concern,” Dr. Beach added.

“This is a great study because it brings the issue forward,” stated Sharon Merriman-Nai, manager of the National Center on Elder Abuse at the Universtiy of Delaware. The NCEA is a federally funded grant program that serves as a resource center. “The NCEA has identified the need to target the issue; to target the need for greater public awareness around the issue of elder abuse,” Ms. Merriman-Nai told The Final Call.

Ms. Merriman-Nai reportedly said in a June story that was widely circulated that between 700,000 to 3.5 million American seniors are abused in some way each year, either by neglect, self-neglect, physical abuse, rape or financial exploitation. The Tennessee Commission on Aging and disability estimated that more than two-thirds of the elderly that are abused, are abused by a family member. The Va. Dept. of Social Services Adult Protective Services say they investigated 15,625 cases of elder abuse—59 percent were substantiated.

Activists in Pittsburgh such as Paradise Gray of the One Hood organization say that they are not aware of any specific organization that deals with the elderly in the city. “Most of Pittsburgh's Black population is aging, and there is a problem of wide disrespect for the elderly amongst the youth,” Mr. Gray told The Final Call.

Mr. Gray admitted that while it was hard to know what was going on behind closed doors; it was widely known that many elders were afraid to go outside of their homes.

“My father is 80-years-old and he has a shotgun by his door,” Mattie Muhammad told The Final Call. “And he refuses to give it up,” she added. Ms. Muhammad said her father was reacting to the hostility shown to seniors by Pittsburgh youth. But, she also said that Black elderly were abused and exploited by the health care system, and the transportation system in the city.

“My mother ended up in long-term care because they were insisting on dispensing generic drugs to her, which made her sicker,” Ms. Muhammad stated. “The Access ride takes two to three hours to pick up elderly patients, which makes it very difficult for them in the winter,' Ms. Muhammad said.

The NCEA definitions for elderly abuse are: emotional abuse -- infliction of anguish, pain or distress through verbal or non-verbal acts; financial/material exploitation—illegal or improper use of an elder's funds, property, assets; physical abuse—use of physical force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain, or impairment.