National Center on Elder Abuse
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National Center on Elder Abuse
Home / Research / Research, Statistics and Data / Dementia and Elder Mistreatment
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Dementia and Elder Mistreatment
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Older people with dementia are particularly susceptible to abuse. Nearly one in two older adults with cognitive impairment experiences abuse.102 In addition to being dependent upon others for assistance, elders with dementia are more likely to experience deficits in memory, communication, and judgment that make it harder for them to identify, prevent, and report mistreatment. Many may also be reluctant to report abuse by caregivers and others upon whom they rely. Older people with dementia are often at an increased risk of mistreatment because of pre-existing medical and mental health weaknesses.103
102 Mosqueda, L., Burnight, K., Gironda, M. W., Moore, A. A., Robinson, J., & Olsen, B. (2016). The abuse intervention model: A pragmatic approach to intervention for elder mistreatment. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 64(9), 1879-1883.
103 Cooper, C., & Livingston, G. (2020). Elder Abuse and Dementia. In Advances in Elder Abuse Research (pp. 137-147). Springer, Cham.
Last Modified: 02/28/2024