When old age isn't golden - An international conspiracy!

When old age isn't golden - An international conspiracy! 


1. Jerusalem Post - Jerusalem

Author: JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH

Date: Feb 7, 2010

Sarah Halperin, a Jerusalem Municipality social worker who focuses on the treatment, intervention and prevention of elder abuse, said that from her experience, many old people talk about their fears of being preyed upon when they go to cash their National Insurance Institute old-age pension, worried that someone will pounce on them to take it. She added that there are cases of bank accounts and other property being taken over by relatives. Grown children may threaten to disconnect their parents from beloved grandchildren unless they sign over property. They may denigrate them by saying they have "one foot in the grave" or treating the old person like a child and calling him or her "sweetie."

 "Elder abuse occurs in every community and culture. It can be active or passive neglect, such as making sure the refrigerator is almost empty," said Halperin. She presented a heartrending, 30-minute, Hebrew film made by Yohanan Veller about a serious but fictional case of elder abuse that begins happily. A widow lives alone in her apartment, is physically and socially active, friendly with neighbors, able to take care of herself and her devoted dog. She hosts her single daughter for Shabbat meals, is able to shop for food and cook. Her refrigerator is full. Her son, however, almost never comes to visit, as he is always "busy" and full of excuses about having to care for his own family.

[Sara Alon] notes that since 1989, a series of laws has been passed aimed at protecting the elderly from abuse; professionals in the field are required to know their details so they can intervene more effectively. A 2005 Israeli national survey of a representative sample of old people living alone showed that 18.4% admitted suffering some kind of abuse or neglect during the previous year. "Although the extent of the problem is worrisome," she writes, "we witness difficulties in exposing it."

Editor's note: How this statement resounds from the halls of the 18th floor of the Daley Center in the corrupt Probate Court of Cook County, IL.      "we witness difficulties in exposing it."