BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Kern County held a sold-out conference in Bakersfield this week to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, observed June 15, bringing together more than 200 attendees to learn about prevention and the growing scope of the problem.
Jeremy Oliver, director of Kern County Aging and Adult Services, said the annual event gives professionals and community members a chance to network and stay current on emerging trends in elder and dependent adult abuse.
"It's the opportunity to network and the opportunity to learn what might be actually more recently developing with regards to elder dependent adult abuse," Oliver said. "It's a takeaway of how to hopefully prevent instances of abuse and neglect."
While many people associate elder abuse with physical harm, Oliver said financial abuse is far more common than most realize — and far harder to detect.
"We actually see a lot of financial abuse, and that can be really well disguised," Oliver said. "You can't really see that just by observing somebody."
Other forms of elder abuse include neglect, self-neglect, abandonment, isolation, and abduction. Oliver said self-neglect and financial abuse are among the most frequently reported, and the two often occur together.
"A lot of times when we see financial abuse, it can be accompanied by physical abuse," Oliver said.
Kern County receives approximately 7,000 elder abuse reports each year, but Oliver said that number represents only a fraction of actual cases. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, for every reported case, roughly 24 go unreported.
"Unfortunately, we've learned through the National Centers of Elder Abuse that for every instance or every report we know about, there are about 24 reports that go unreported," Oliver said.
Oliver said a lack of awareness is a major reason abuse goes unreported — both among those who witness it and those who experience it.
"I think there's a lot of not realizing that this is a real problem, not being aware that there is an option to report, to share this information," Oliver said. "That's what Adult Protective Services is there for, to look into those situations and hopefully resolve them before they may become an even larger issue."
Oliver, who has worked in the field for 25 years, said the nature of elder abuse is evolving alongside the population. Scams are becoming more sophisticated, and the number of potential victims is growing rapidly.
"In 2030, 25% of the population will be 60 years of age and above," Oliver said. "So that's a staggering amount of our population that's coming into this segment that will be potential victims of elder dependent adult abuse."
When abuse does occur, Oliver said the perpetrators are often people the victim already knows and trusts.
"It's a lot of people that actually know the victims very well, so it could be family members, it could be friends, it could be neighbors," Oliver said. "They'll take advantage when they start to see a person declining."
Oliver said the motivation does not always begin with malicious intent.
"Sometimes their intents really were not to start with abusing or taking advantage of the situation, but it starts to lead towards that — the idea of entitlement that this is something I earned by doing some of this care," Oliver said.
Anyone who suspects elder abuse or wants more information is encouraged to contact Adult Protective Services.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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