what is Elder Abuse

this may be a stuped question whats Elder Abuse?

Think of Child Abuse but instead of the victim being a child they are elderly. Sometimes the abuse takes the form of physical abuse or torture, sometimes verbal or mental. There are far too many cases and it often goes unreported because the victims often have trouble communicating due to their age or illnesses such as Alzheimer's. The link below has some examples of the types of abuse faced by Seniors.
http://www.cornellcares.org/pdf/handouts/can_familyharm.pdf

A case of Elder Abuse I came across was an elderly man living alone who was visited occassionally by a 25 year old friend of his family. Each visit was to 'rob' the poor old guy of some of his pension money, and the reasons used to convince him to part with his money was always quite creative, not to mention disgusting - the fridge has broken down and I have to get a service mechanic quickly or the food will spoil etc.....this young guy was on drugs. My mother lived close by and we often bought him bread and other groceries. Another case was a woman with an only son, who was in charge of her bank accounts as she was in an Aged Care facility. The son gambled all her money away. Incredible that some people just have no qualms when it comes to someone else's money. I guess each incidence comes under a different 'code' - i.e. stealing/fraud and maybe should be reported. In retrospect, maybe I should have done more and reported this to ?? Does the moderator have any comment ...Susy, Australia

Elder abuse is any act of harm committed by a person of trust. (Such as a family member, health care provider, priest, friend)