Elder justice: Preventing and intervening in elder mistreatment.

In the United States, as many as 1 in 10 older adults and 47% of persons with dementia living at home experience some form of mistreatment (IOM, 2013). Elder mistreatment results in diminished well-being and quality of life, and violates the rights of older adults to be safe and free from violence. Elder mistreatment can occur anywhere--in the home, in care and residential facilities and in the community. It can also be malignantly contagious within settings and families and across the lifespan (Dong, 2012). With the rapid growth of the US population of older adults, now estimated to reach 84 million by the year 2050 (Ortman, Velkoff, & Hogan, 2014), the issue of elder mistreatment is a major national health concern.