State officials want South Dakotans to be aware of elder abuse.
Governor Dennis Daugaard declared Friday, June 15th as Elder Abuse Awareness Day in South Dakota. The commemoration was the same day as the United Nations’ declaration of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
Cassie Lindquist with the South Dakota Department of Human Services says more than 11-hundred reports of mistreatment of elderly people were made statewide in Fiscal Year 2017.
She says more than 400 of those were related in some way to material abuse or financial exploitation. Lundquist says people should pay attention to a couple ways scammers try to take advantage of elders.
“So, things to look for, especially for those loved ones who maybe aren’t around all the time – but if they go and visit a family member and see lot of piles of mail and stuff – that could be a sign that they are potentially a victim of a scam. Because, scammers like to just start loading them up on information, making them think they won a sweepstakes, things like that. A loved one talking about recently a new friend calling them all the time – this goes back those scams.”
Lindquist says other forms of elder abuse include abandonment, neglect, emotional and psychological abuse, self-neglect, and self-abuse.
She says the state defines an elder as someone above the age of 65. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 140,000 South Dakotans fit that category.