How to Prevent Elder Abuse with Deb Martin

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🎙️Welcome back to Steadfast Care Planning, your trusted space for everything related to planning for extended care to live well!
💡 In this enlightening episode, host Kelly Augspurger is joined by Deb Martin, the manager of the Vulnerable Adult Office at Thrivent. Deb has extensive experience in elder abuse prevention and detection and shares crucial information on this pressing topic.
✨ In this episode, we’ll unpack what constitutes elder abuse, the various forms it can take beyond just physical harm, and the alarming prevalence of financial exploitation and confidence scams perpetrated through various digital technology platforms i.e. phones, emails, social media.
🚩 Deb will also share key red flags to watch out for, common scams targeting older adults, and actionable steps for reporting and preventing elder abuse.
👥 Whether you're a caregiver, financial professional, or simply concerned about the well-being of an older loved one, this episode is packed with valuable insights and practical advice. So, stay tuned as we ensure our elders are protected and well cared for.
In this episode they covered:
🔹 Understanding the various forms of elder abuse, including physical, emotional, and financial.
🔹 Red flags to look out for that may signal elder abuse.
🔹 Real-life examples of scams targeting elderly individuals.
🔹 How to report suspected elder abuse to the appropriate authorities.
🔹 Preventative strategies to protect older adults from becoming victims.
🔹 The importance of proactive planning with trusted contacts and documented wishes.
📽️ To watch this episode: https://youtu.be/JK9ElArY4Uw
For more information about Deb Martin and Thrivent, please visit:
https://www.thrivent.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmarquette
To report abuse:
National Adult Protective Services Association:
https://www.napsa-now.org
(202)-370-6292
Long-Term Care Ombudsmen:
https://acl.gov/programs/Protecting-Rights-and-Preventing-Abuse/Long-term-Care-Ombudsman-Program
(202)-332-2275
#LongTermCare #Thrivent #SteadfastCarePlanning #DebMartin #longtermcareinsurance #preventelderabuse
For additional information about Kelly, check her out on Linkedin or www.SteadfastAgents.com.
To explore your options for long-term care insurance, click here.
Steadfast Care Planning podcast is made possible by Steadfast Insurance LLC,
Certification in Long Term Care, and AMADA Senior Care Columbus.
Come back next time for more helpful guidance!

Capitole

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. What is Elder Abuse? (00:00:41)

3. Common perpetrators of elder abuse are people who are close to them. Usually someone who the elder person trusts. (00:01:11)

4. The Elder Justice act defines elder abuse as knowing infliction of physical or psychological harm, or the knowing deprivation of goods or services that are necessary to meet the essential needs, or to avoid physical or psychological harm. (00:01:20)

5. There can be lots of different types of abuse. It's not just physical. I mean, you even mentioned financial, right? (00:02:18)

6. What is financial elder abuse? (00:02:30)

7. Who typically are the perpetrators of this abuse? Is it usually professionals, family, a combination? (00:02:59)

8. Tell us about red flags for elder abuse. What should we look out for? (00:03:53)

9. A red flag is really something that you observe or see that makes it look like you're questioning what is really going on. (00:04:12)

10. Maybe the elder adult have unexplained pressure marks, bruises, burns, skin tears. (00:04:53)

11. Maybe the elder adult hair is unwashed, they have dirty clothes, maybe poor dental hygiene. (00:05:27)

12. If new family or friends suddenly start appearing in their lives or showing interest in that older adult and spending more and more time with them, that could be a red sign or a red flag. (00:06:11)

13. AMADA Senior Care Commercial (00:07:16)

14. Romance scams and confidence scams involving various digital technology platforms. (00:07:53)

15. These scammers play on the loneliness and isolation of our older population. In particular, they know that the older population tends to have more assets than the younger population. (00:08:43)

16. Kelly shares a story about how she nearly got scammed herself. (00:09:27)

17. The technology scams are huge. Different examples of technology scams. (00:09:57)

18. Don't get mad at elders who have been scammed. (00:10:38)

19. So, Deb, can you describe some of the different scams that are actually out there that we should be aware of? (00:11:15)

20. Give yourself a little safety check on is if anyone asks you to wire transfer money, or pay with a gift card, or pay with a payment app such as Zelle, or Venmo, or cryptocurrency. (00:12:49)

21. Certification for Long-Term Care Commercial (00:14:04)

22. If a family member or financial professional suspects elder abuse, how and to whom can it be reported to? (00:14:33)

23. What are some strategies, Deb, that we can do to prevent elder abuse? We know the red flags now. So how do we best prevent elder abuse? (00:16:37)

24. Any final advice on how people can plan for care to live well? really take the time now to plan for your future needs, both your healthcare needs and your financial needs. (00:17:47)

25. Really having written documents, proactive planning, talking to people in your life and letting them know also where these documents are. (00:19:11)