Wise & Healthy Aging’s City & County of Los Angeles Elder Abuse Prevention Program provides seniors with the knowledge and skills they can use to protect themselves from becoming victims of financial, physical or emotional abuse.  Victims often don’t know how to seek protection from their abusers or are fearful of reporting the crime due to their dependency upon abusers for care. For more information, see our Facebook page.

That’s why, as part of our services, we provide workshops, training, and presentations to community agencies on preventing elder and dependent adult abuse and what individuals can do when abuse occurs. Some of our workshops focus on scam and fraud prevention.

In addition, we organize an annual Awareness Walk and Resource Fair in recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day that is held at the Long Beach Senior Center.

• An estimated one to two million Americans aged 65 or older have been injured, exploited or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection
• For every 1 case of elder abuse, neglect, exploitation or self-neglect reported to authorities, it’s estimated about five more go unreported
• 1 out of every 25 cases of financial exploitation is reported (at least 5 million financial abuse victims each year)
• In domestic settings, it is estimated that only 1 in 14 incidents of elder abuse come to the attention of the authorities.

  *The facts above come from the National Center on Elder Abuse and draw data from a number of studies.

One in 1 in 10 older adults have been affected by elder abuse.  Elder Abuse includes physical, sexual, financial, mental/emotional abuse, and neglect.  Older adults who have experienced abuse have an increased risk of death, hospitalization, illness, and mental health symptoms, including anxiety and depression. 

Our HEART advocacy team supports adults aged 60+ and any adult aged 18+ with disabilities in Long Beach who are victims of crime or have experienced abuse.

We meet people where they are and where it is safe, including their homes, parks, other public spaces, cafes, police departments, or our project office.

• We partner with the Long Beach Police Department and have a desk in a police station to collaborate with elder abuse detectives and officers. LBPD provides us with referrals to connect with persons experiencing abuse.
• In addition to LBPD, we receive referrals from Adult Protective Services and other partners in the local victim services and aging network.