Elderly Abuse: Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography: Elderly Abuse
McCawley, A., Tilse, C., Wilson, J., Rosenman, L., & Setterlund, D. (2006). Access to assets: Older people with impaired capacity and financial abuse. Journal of Adult Protection, 8(1), 20-32. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Summary
McCawley, Tilse, Wilson, Rosenman, & Setterlund (2006) explored the link of older people with impaired capacity and financial abuse. People age and nothing can be done to change that. As the elder population grows, so does the risk for financial abuse in any community. According to this article, there are several factors that increase the possibility for this to happen, such as who are the most vulnerable, who has the ability to give consent, and who are these elders’ guardians,…show more content…
Though EPAs have their advantages, the community needs more education about the responsibilities that entail being selected so that the risk factors for misuse of this power be reduced. Moreover, the economy, as it is now, does not help to lessen the potential for abuse. In some instances, depending upon the gravity of the economic situation of the selected administrator, he or she may go as far as selling the older person’s assets and properties including the primary…show more content…
The organization in charge of validating the EPAs did not record whether there was risk for financial abuse or not; it only recorded whether the older person had impaired capacity and whether an administrator for the assets was necessary. Some of the files obtained from the sample were labeled “suspected abuse,” and never followed up on. The study did not take into account that some appointed administrators were the older persons’ partners who were also at risk of having failing capacity to manage their assets. Informal access – assisted withdrawals where the older person signs the checks – was not accounted for in this article, and it was not legally sanctioned either. At the same time, the effectiveness of the data collection was relatively limited due to the lack of professionals trained in this