Each year millions of Americans are abused or neglected, often by those who are supposed to care for them or by people they trust. This is epidemic. Let us start with the statistics. In the US alone, more than 500,000 adults over 60 years old are suspected of being abused or neglected per year. We have to assume there are many more victims and those abuses are not reported. Perpetrators steal over $2.9 billion dollars a year from vulnerable adults. Nursing home residents – 26% of them – are given antipsychotic medications, usually with no proper medical diagnosis or family member consent. So, physical, psychological and financial abuse must be carefully watched by loving family members. The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) is the national authority on elder abuse, neglect and exploitation. http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/index.aspx. Their hotline page is http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/Stop_Abuse/Get_Help/State/index.aspx. If you need to check out nursing homes, go to Pro Publica. http://projects.propublica.org/nursing-homes. The National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse is one of the nation’s associations dedicated to protecting the elderly. http://www.preventelderabuse.org/index.html. And the Center for Excellence on Elder Abuse and Neglect is a clearinghouse of information on elder abuse.