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Guide to Preventing Elder Abuse Available in Spanish
Publication Provides Tips For Detecting and Reporting Elder Abuse

June 26, 2003
03-076
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(916) 324-5500

(SACRAMENTO) – The California Attorney General's Office and AARP announce that a comprehensive consumer guide to help Californians protect their elderly relatives and friends is now available in Spanish.

The 36-page booklet, "Guía Para Ciudadanos Para Prevenir Y Denunciar El Abuso De Ancianos." offers guidance on ways to protect yourself and loved ones from becoming a victim of elder abuse. It contains tips on selecting a residential care or skilled nursing facility and provides a list of valuable web sites and other resources for additional advice and information.

"This guide serves as the most comprehensive and first-in-the-nation resource to address the serious and significant problems of elder abuse," said Tom Porter, AARP California state director. "Whether it is physical or emotional abuse, financial abuse or abuse that occurs within a long-term facility, this reference will be the first line of defense."

About 225,000 cases of elder abuse occur every year in California. But it is estimated that for every case of elder abuse reported, five more are not. The guide provides helpful hints on how to detect the most common warning signs of physical, emotional and financial elder abuse and neglect in long-term care facilities. It also outlines how to choose long term care facilities. For example, potential residents and their families should visit the facility at different times of the day and night and talk with residents to find out if they are satisfied with their environment. Families also should determine what religious services and recreational activities are offered and what languages are spoken by staff when making their decision.

The "Citizen's Guide to Preventing & Reporting Elder Abuse" is now available online in English and Spanish at www.ag.ca.gov/bmfea and at www.safestate.org. A version in Chinese will be published later this summer. Additional information on the Attorney General's programs to battle elder abuse also are available at these web sites.

The multi-lingual guides are part of a public education and outreach campaign by the Attorney General's Crime and Violence Prevention Center under a three-year, $6 million grant.

Copies of the "Citizen's Guide to Preventing & Reporting Elder Abuse" in English or Spanish may be requested by writing the Office of the Attorney General, c/o Crime and Violence Prevention Center, 1300 I Street, Suite 1150, Sacramento, CA 95814. Please allow four to six weeks for delivery.

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