Elder Abuse--Similar to Day Care Abuse of Young Children

My 95-year-old mother may have been the victim of a type of elder abuse where she lives.  She reported that a person came into her room and said, "You're old enough.  Why don't you die?"  Mom felt threatened and kept replaying the one-sided conversation over and over in her mind.

She called for help and, by the time people arrived to help, there was no evidence that anyone had been involved in abuse.  Because Mom does have short-term memory problems, it is easy for someone to record the incident as "senile dementia" or "confusion."

While Mom can get confused and forget things, especially when she's tired, she has reported similar incidents to me at least three or four times over the last few months.  She does react by becoming nervous and upset.

When this happens in day care for young children, parents often set-up a hidden camera and microphone to see what's really going on.  That will probably be my next step in finding out what's happening to Mom.