32% of abuse of old people in Japan done by sons
In 11 percent of abuse cases surveyed, elderly victims were living under appalling conditions, but 90 percent of home care support experts, who noticed the mistreatment, said they felt it was difficult to stop the abuse, according to officials of the Institute for Health Economics and Policy (Japan), an incorporated foundation in Tokyo that conducted the survey.
For the survey, commissioned by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the institute surveyed 16,800 hospitals and home care support centers around the country from November through January.
A total of 1,991 abuse cases discovered by home care managers were analyzed, the institute officials said.
According to their analysis, the average age of abuse victims was 81.6 years, with 76 percent of victims being women.
Sons of the victims accounted for 32 percent of abusers--the largest percentage--even though they were a minority among family caregivers, the officials said.
The spouses of sons of elderly care receivers accounted for 21 percent, or the second-largest group of abusers, while daughters accounted for 16 percent and husbands of elderly care receivers for 12 percent, according to the survey.
However, only 9 percent of abusers were wives of elderly care receivers, the officials added.
One of the reasons for such a large percentage of sons being abusers seemed to be that the number of men looking after their elderly parents was increasing because the sons had remained unmarried or had been laid off, according to the officials.
According to multiple replies to a question on the types of abuse, psychological abuse accounted for 64 percent, or the largest percentage. The second-most common kind of abuse was abdication of responsibility for looking after the elderly, at 52 percent. Physical abuse accounted for 50 percent, the officials said.
Among the abuse cases, 11 percent of the victims had lived under life-threatening conditions, while 51 percent had been put into situations that were harmful to their mental and physical health, according to the survey results.
But 54 percent of the perpetrators were reported to be unaware that they were abusing the elderly care receivers.
From:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040419wo33.htm
32% de abuz de bãtrâni din Japonia fãcut de fiii - 32% of abuse of old people in Japan done by sons - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate