HMHD hosts conference in honor of Elder Abuse Awareness month

The Heffernan Memorial Healthcare District held a conference educating first responders and people in the community about Elder Abuse.

The conference was held in honor of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which is on June 15.

The conference touched on topics about detecting abuse and reporting abuse.

The National Center on Elder Abuse says the top forms of elder abuse are neglect, financial, psychological, and physical abuse.

According to Adult Protective Services, they receive 15,000 reports of elder and dependent adult abuse per month in California.

Imperial County Long Term Care Coordinator, Karla Flores, says family members are usually the people who abuse elders the most.

Flores emphasized the obligation mandated reporters, and even community members have when it comes to reporting elder abuse when they see it.

APS says elder abuse is significantly underreported. For every case reported to agencies, 24 cases go unreported.