ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
OLDER MEMBERS of the community sometimes need encouragement and attention as they lose their neighbors, according to the director of the state's Center on Aging.
The best way to keep the elderly from becoming victims of crime, fraud and abuse is to reconnect them with their communities, the head of the Virginia Center on Aging said Tuesday.
"As friends in their neighborhoods die or move, they know no one on the block," said Edward F. Ansello, director of the center, which the General Assembly created in 1978.
Ansello spoke Tuesday at the annual meeting of Roanoke's League of Older Americans Area Agency on Aging. His speech, "The Elder Victim," highlighted circumstances that foster the victimization of the elderly and how communities and agencies can help prevent it.
Helping the often-isolated elderly again become part of their communities topped Ansello's list of solutions. The LOA - with programs such as Meals on Wheels, Adult Day Care and Senior Companion - can be a tool in "restoring a community that may have been broken," he said.
Other solutions:
* Being aware of street crime. Going out in groups, keeping purses close to the body, and carrying money and credit cards in places other than a wallet or purse - preferably a hidden place - can help the elderly feel more secure.
* Reporting fraud to such organizations as the National Fraud Information Center hot line - (800)876-7060 - and the Medicaid/Medicare hot line - (800)HHS-TIPS).
* Forming support groups for care givers. Although the most common form of elder abuse is self-neglect, there have been cases where care givers who are overwhelmed take out their frustrations by neglecting or abusing those they are caring for, Ansello said.
Fear of crime contributes to the separation of the elderly from their communities, Ansello said. While the elderly are less likely to be victims of crime compared with other age groups, they fear becoming crime victims more than younger people, he said.
"As a result, they stay home," Ansello said. "They are victims of a fortress mentality. It really robs them of a sense of community belonging."
The elderly are victims of personal crimes - robbery, assault, personal larceny - at one-tenth the rate of younger people, he said. And they are one-fifth as likely to be victims of property crimes - burglary or property theft - as younger people.
What fosters victimization of the elderly? According to Ansello:
* Separation from communities.
* Disabilities, which make them legitimate prey in the minds of many people.
* ``Conditioned passivity," or the encouragement of solitary activities such as watching television.
* The perception that someone who is not productive and cannot contribute to society is not meaningful.
* The imbalanced exchange of rewards, which can subject an elderly person who cannot give back to someone who has provided a service, such as a care giver, to abuse.
Roanoke's LOA Area Agency on Aging serves elderly residents of Roanoke, Salem, Covington, Clifton Forge and the counties of Roanoke, Botetourt, Craig and Alleghany. Of the nearly 260,000 people who live in those localities, 53,000 - roughly one in five - are 60 or older.
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