ELDER
ABUSE:
An Alarming Saga
by Mary Ann Durant
DNP, MSN, BSN, RN, MEd
Assistant Professor
Alvernia University
CE: 1.0 contact hour
Pennsylvania State Nurses Association is accredited as a provider
of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Creden-
tialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
Introduction
The current United States (U.S.) population of senior
adults is over 54 million. It is projected to reach 70
million in the next decade (Senior Care, 2019). Se-
niors will represent 20% of the total U.S. population
in 2030 (Eliopoulos, 2018).
With increased growth in the older population, the
“potential for abuse also proliferates” (Mauk, 2018,
p. 784). Unfortunately, the elderly experience an
increased incidence of abuse that ranges in vary-
ing types and intensity. While no federal law exists
against elder abuse, each state enforces some degree
of law regarding this issue.
Pennsylvania enacted the Older Adults Protective
Services Act (OAPSA) in 1987. This Act, which is
governed by the Department of Aging, provided a
statewide and standardized system of reporting and
investigating elder abuse. OAPSA (1987) focuses on
individuals over age 60 and provides for the health
and safety of those unable to care for themselves, ad-
heres to patients’ rights, utilizes protective services if
needed, identifies those abused, follows up on elimi-
nating the issue, and educates the public on services
and awareness of elder abuse (Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, 2019).
In 2016, the state of Pennsylvania reported a 21.3%
increase in elder abuse from the prior year (Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania, 2017). Pennsylvania ranks
fourth in the country for prevalence of elder abuse,
but eighth in the country among the best states with
elder abuse protections in effect (McCann, 2018).
These increasing, startling figures are recognizably
Issue 74, 3 2019 Pennsylvania Nurse 5