On October 8, 1998, the Assistant Secretaries for Aging and Children and Families, Jeanette C. Takamura and Olivia Golden, announced release of the National Elder Abuse Incidence Study prepared for the Administration on Aging and the Administration for Children and Families. This study, requested by Congress, was conducted by the National Center for Elder Abuse at the American Public Human Services Association (formerly the American Public Welfare Association) in collaboration with Westat, Inc., a Maryland-based social science and research firm.
This study found that reported elder abuse cases make up only the "tip of the iceberg." The study estimates the incidence of older persons that were newly abused, neglected, and/or exploited, or experienced self-neglect, in domestic settings in 1996 to be at least half a million older persons. The study also found that for every reported incident of elder abuse, neglect, exploitation, or self-neglect, approximately five go unreported.
Read the National Elder Abuse Incidence Study (PDF, 1.08MB)