Elder abuse in the COVID‐19 era

Reports of elder abuse range from financial scams to incidents of family violence, with public warnings issued accordingly from the Federal Trade Commission and the American Bar Association. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines elder abuse as an intentional act or failure to act by a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult. Abuse of older adults can be physical, emotional, financial, neglect, or any combination of these. The World Health Organization defines ageism as “the stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination against people on the basis of their age,” and a recent systematic review found ageism to be associated with numerous negative health consequences worldwide. Ageism is pervasive, harmful, and arguably the primary vice underlying elder abuse. See PDF.] ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Financial Disclosure This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health grants (R01AG055430 to S.D.H., R01AG060096 to L.M.) and the Administration for Community Living grant (90ABRC0001‐02‐00 to L.M.), as well as the Department of Family Medicine of the University of Southern California.