When we talk about abuse, it is customary to imagine a violent event within a couple. But not always. All persons in vulnerable situations and dependence are susceptible to abuse by powerful who is believed to address them.
The elderly are a group more affected than in principle to be believed. Therefore, the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology has developed the Guidelines for Good Treatment for the Elderly to denounce this situation and make known risk factors of abuse, indicators and appropriate prevention measures.
Above all, in preventing any outbreak of ill-treatment, pay attention to possible warning signs. Physical signs are the most visible, since the injury and damage are obvious: the development of diseases by intentional lack of health care, unusual weight loss, malnutrition, continuous hospitalization, or poor hygiene.
We can also perceive psychological abuse indicators (helplessness, submissiveness, low self-esteem, lack of communication), sexual (genital lesions and venereal disease), economic (robbery, use of property, access to their accounts) and social (related to negative connotations that society attributes to the elderly, and disregard for authorities and institutions).
It is up to all to avoid any of these signs are manifest in the life of an elderly person and involving a slab in their day to day. Older people fend for themselves in the family must find the strongest support and feel respected by her in her decisions. On a smaller but also important is the rest of society, citizens, institutions, health centers and the media. In all these areas should promote physical and moral autonomy.