Case Investigations Opened and Closed

In our story map we'll be discussing the matter of investigations that have been opened, closed, and the in between for elderly abuse. Elder abuse includes physical, emotional, or sexual harm inflicted upon an older adult, their financial exploitation, or neglect of their welfare by people who are directly responsible for their care. More than 100,000 cases in California have been noted of elderly abuse. Many cases go unreported because some elders are mentally and physically impaired. Our indicators emphasize on where the hot spots are for where cases have been investigated, opened, and closed. We also include and show the budget that is given for these cases.

They provide an exceptional amount of help to any elders (starting at age 60) who are in danger that go along the lines of any abuse, neglect, and provide protective social services and to those who depend on anyone but themselves. The program is authorized by law to each state to receive and investigate any reports of elder mistreatment and to intervene to save the victims to their full potential.

One of the reasons why the elderly are abuse is because the elderly care givers run low on patience, and have a negative mindset that makes them believe they aren't getting paid enough to put up with some of the things they have to do for the elderly. These caregivers take advantage of the elderly, by physically, sexually, and/or financially abusing them. One example of elderly abuse can be Stan Lee (creator of Marvel Comics), the people trusted stole lots of money and valuable assets from him. Taking these things away from him wasn't enough for these "caregivers" because they also physically abused him. It is understandable for an elderly person to have an attitude just because they may always be in pain due to the fact that they're old so its hard for them to be comfortable. If a caregiver decides to take up the responsibility of taking care of an elderly person they should know the cons of dealing with an older person in order for them to be patient and not abuse of them. On the other hand some "caregivers" take up this responsibility just because they want to steal from the defenseless elderly people.

As we can see, this map has three different indicators for 2018, these indicators include the financial budget supporting these cases ($), the circles show where the reports of abuse have happened, and shades of blue. With the shades we can conclude that this is wehre the most cases have been completed. The lighter areas signify that there are cases that have not been completed.

From the shades, we can conclude that more elders populate Southern California. Since those areas are the most populated, we can reference the $ signs, which tell us where most of the budget for these cases is going towards. There has been a growing amount of total reported cases of 14,300 and with the budget that is being provided, we cannot further advance to help prevent elder abuse.

The indicator of the colors in the map, indicate the number of confirmed cases and have been completed. The grey color is that there are various amount of cases(31<) in the region. While the dark blue color signifies that there are no completed cases, the lighter blue one indicates that there are 9 or more investigations completed. In addition to that the yellow indicates 1-2 cases, orange indicates 3-5 cases, the darker orange indicates 6-8 cases, the brown indicates 9-11 cases, the lighter orange indicates 12-15 cases, the red-orange indicates 16-19 cases, the purple indicates 20-23 cases, and the dark pink indicates 24-30 cases.

As we can see the number of cases are higher in Southern California than they are in Northern California. By using the falling person symbol we see that cases in Northern California are smaller and dispersed further apart from each other. On the other hand in Southern California cases are drawn closer together and in higher numbers. With this observation being made there is more abuse in the southern part of California than in the north. In the map one of the indicators would be the falling person, this indicates how many confirmed cases have been close. For example the largest one in Southern California contains over 263 cases.

If we compare both Maps we can see that the budget is drastically increased in Southern California where the number of confirmed cases is compacted and a lot higher. When we get to the middle of California we see that the number of cases are less and dispersed, which compares to the budget, where the budget is lowed and dispersed. On the Northern part of California the number of cases are still somewhat dispersed and begin to increase, this then leads the budget to also increase, the budget also dispersed.

We can further assume that the number of cases can massively increase this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason why is because people are afraid to go outside, especially the elderly since they are more prone to get the disease and die from it. They not only have to worry about being out but also staying in because they may be subject to abuse by their caregivers. During these hard time everyone is stressed, and we can assume that caregivers and the elderly are spending a lot more time together tension may rise, leading to caregivers abusing the elderly.

"I think one very important thing for people to know is that anybody can be a victim, and anybody can be an abuser. We don't see ourselves for the most part as possibly being in any of those roles ... There are lots of things we can do to protect ourselves and our loved ones if we're willing to absorb that fact."

People who work with older adults say the most powerful way to avoid as much as possible abuse is to be involved in a community and be a voice for those who don't have one. Having friends and family checking in — particularly if they have a knowledge of the warning signs of abuse — can go a long way towards keep an older adult safe.

The more awareness we can spread about this topic, the less the elders will be targeted and saved

To help eliminate the fear of aging, UC Irvine has helped develop a fund to further educate and direct service to clients and the professionals who serve them, and through training, advocacy and research.