CLEVELAND — Pam Denton, 66, said she was a victim of elder abuse.
“I was a victim of domestic violence,” said Denton. “I was picked up and thrown against the wall.”
Nearly 60% of abusers are family members, according to the National Council on Aging. Denton said hers was her neighbor.
“I was more a caregiver. This person had a disability. And I would do, run errands for them and stuff like that,” said Denton.
She said she became severely depressed after the occurrence and needed a total change. She was one of the first guests at The Elder Justice Center at Eliza Bryant Village. Eliza Bryant Village is the oldest continually operating, African American-founded, long-term care facility in the United States. The Elder Justice Center opened in 2020.
“They did in six months what would have probably taken me three years to accomplish,” said Denton. “Everything was right here. You know, the social worker, the psychologists. Everything was right here.”
The Elder Justice Center is the only place of its kind in Ohio. It provides temporary safe housing and support services for older adults experiencing some form of abuse.
“A lot of seniors are suffering and we need to take care of our seniors in their latter days,” said Jeanna Davis, director of senior outreach at Eliza Bryant Village. “Our seniors are fragile, they are frail. Unfortunately, they cannot make decisions themselves.”
Pam Denton with Jeanna Davis.
It’s estimated that one in 10 people aged 60+ are victims of elder abuse, according to the National Council on Aging. Social isolation and mental impairment can make seniors a vulnerable population. The Elder Justice Center provides housing, food, transportation, counselors, social workers, group therapy and more to help the guests work through their trauma and move forward.
U.S. Census data suggests that more than 200,000 Ohioans age 60 and older experience some form of elder abuse. However, Ohio’s county departments of job and family services received just 34,000 calls in 2020. This suggests that tens of thousands of cases of elder abuse go unreported. Davis said the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has only made matters worse. According to the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, one in five older people has experienced elder abuse during the pandemic, a jump of nearly 84% over pre-pandemic estimates.
“Elders shouldn’t have to go through abuse because, I mean, look at it. They’ve worked their whole lives, they’re raised their families, they earned peace and quiet and if you can’t have peace, quiet and safety under your own roof, then there’s serious issues in society,” said Denton. “If elders knew there was a place they could go to, to get the help they needed, I think more will be reported.”
Davis said sometimes it can be difficult to identify elder abuse because in most cases the abuser is someone close to that person. She said it usually takes someone from the outside looking in to notice some of the warning signs of abuse.
Warning signs include:
- Signs of physical harm
- Sudden changes in behavior
- Increased involvement of other family members in their lives or decisions
- Lack of hygiene
- Unclean or unsafe living conditions
- Missing money or property
- Increased isolation
“If a senior is isolated, they are not as active as they used to be, they’re shying away from normal activities, they do not want to engage with other seniors like they used to, if their behavior has changed and kind of quiet, shy, standoffish and this is not typical behavior, a typical response from this individual, then I would definitely try to have a conversation with that person,” said Davis. “If you notice that maybe the person isn’t eating as much or they’ve lost a significant amount of weight or gained a significant amount of weight. Those are all signs that we want to pay attention to.”
Davis sees seniors come to her deflated, depressed and with no support system. She and her team help flip the script.
“They actually begin to have confidence and believe in themselves, and that’s key. Because once they begin to believe in themselves, and know that they have support, then it makes it easier for them to navigate and do what’s necessary to be successful,” said David. “We need to help them age gracefully and safely during this last stage of their life.”
The center gave Denton back a sense of security. It helped her move to a safe and comfortable environment and get back to enjoying life again.
“Anyone, elder or not, who’s a victim of any kind of domestic abuse, be it physical, psychological, emotional, should feel that I need to get out of this situation,” said Denton. “So just get help, that’s the basic thing I can say just get help.”
The Elder Justice Center hotline is 1-844-EJC-SAFE. You can also call the Ohio Adult Protective Services Hotline at 1-855-OHIO-APS. For more information about the Elder Justice Center at Eliza Bryant Village, visit here.
