Stopping Elder Abuse is Everyone's Business

May - Elder Abuse Prevention Month

May is Elder Abuse Prevention Month, a time to learn about elder abuse and what you can do to help.

It's everyone's business to help prevent abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation of those who are elderly or have disabilities.

Texas Adult Protective Services (APS) is involved in a grass-roots effort, throughout the month, that brings together community, civic, and professional groups to focus attention and resources on preventing and stopping elder abuse. This includes conferences, presentations, and other events that increase understanding and cooperation in addressing the issue.

See a list of events around the state at EveryonesBusiness.org and please share them with your friends, neighbors, congregations, and co-workers.

"Preventing elder abuse becomes more important every year as our state ages," said Beth Engelking, DFPS assistant commissioner for APS. "There are more than 3 million people in Texas who are 65 or older. Everyone needs to know how to recognize and respond to the signs of elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation."

State law requires anyone who suspects abuse, neglect, or exploitation to report it. You can do that by calling the Texas Abuse Hotline at 1-800-252-5400 or report online at www.TxAbuseHotline.org.

Last year, APS completed 81,681 investigations involving people living at home and confirmed 54,731 of them were victims of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation. Sixty percent of those victims were elderly and the rest were younger adults with disabilities.

After a downtick in 2013, the number of validated cases was on the rise again 2014, and that upward trend is expected to continue as our population ages.

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Stopping Elder Abuse is Everyone's Business