Elder abuse affects many older Americans in various ways. Physical, financial and mental abuse can come at the hands of families, care givers and fraudsters.

With the population of Americans 65 and older on track to nearly double by the end of this century, policy makers will need to consider how to ensure the physical and financial safety of vulnerable older people.

Financial advisors also have a role in helping older clients safely navigate their later years.

In a report released Wednesday, WalletHub, a personal finance website, notes that elder-abuse protections vary from state to state and identifies those where protections are strongest.

“These states offer robust legal safeguards, plenty of organizations and volunteers dedicated to helping elderly residents avoid abuse and high-quality nursing homes and other care facilities,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in a statement.

To determine the states with the best protection against elder abuse, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across these key dimensions:

  • Prevalence, including share of elder-abuse, gross neglect and exploitation complaints; estimated elder fraud rate; and elder fraud loss amount per reported frauds — 40 points
  • Resources, including total expenditure on prevention per resident 65 and older, total expenditure on legal assistance development per resident 65 and older and total long-term care ombudsman program funding per older resident — 30 points
  • Protection, including financial elder-abuse laws, frequency of assisted-living facilities inspections, presence of laws allowing surveillance cams in nursing homes and presence of elder-abuse shelters — 30 points

Researchers evaluated these dimensions using 16 relevant metrics and scored each one on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the best protection against elder abuse.

See the accompanying gallery for the 12 states with the most robust elder-abuse protections.

NOT FOR REPRINT

© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.