El maltrato en la población geriátrica, valoración por los profesionales de enfermería.

Abstract

Nursing action in the face of elder abuse World Health Organization (WHO) has defined abuse as «a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person». Occurrence of such events is hard to understand by the community and, in elder population it does not result in the same social concern as in child abuse. Its prevalence is, however, similar. Social and economical changes have contributed to the current weakness of family and community supporting nets. Multidisciplinary care teams for elderly people must report abuse to authorities and intervene to preserve elderly fundamental rights and human rights and to provide appropriate care. Prevalence estimation of suspected abuse in elderly people is about 11.9%. Most common suspected abuse perpetrators are the victim’s family members themselves, at home. This is an issue of great magnitude not to be neglected. Lack of validated direct scales allowing to diagnose elder abuse is a significant limitation. Nurses play a significant role in abuse detection, not only by means of observation and assessment, but also through interviews with patients, caregivers and other related individuals to recognize and assess potential risk factors. Prevention should be focused on family, local community and immediate surroundings. Lay people should be aware of available and existing resources. We feel that availability of an appropriate scale added to our understanding and attitudes as nurses would make our current actions much more effective.