La gestione clinico-assistenziale e forense della persona anziana abusata: il personale sanitario come “finestra di opportunità"

[Machine translation] When we talk about violence, the thought immediately goes to the abuse of, women and children, violence is hardly associated with the elderly. The elderly, however, at, because of their fragility they are very frequently subjected to various forms of abuse,, some more obvious, such as physical abuse, others more subtle and difficult to identify, such as psychological violence or financial abuse., As the population ages, we are seeing an increase in mistreatment, even in this age group. The percentage of abused elderly people is estimated to be at the level, worldwide between 1% and 30% 1. In our country it is around 10-12.7% 2. Notwithstanding, its prevalence and serious negative consequences, and despite its recent recognition, as a social and health problem, violence against the elderly often remains unknown., It represents a serious health problem that has repercussions both on, health of the victim, with an increase in the hospitalization and mortality rate, which on, health expenditure necessary to address the short, medium and long-term consequences., Actions are therefore urgently needed to protect the population at risk and to reduce the prevalence., of the phenomenon, measures that include greater investments in prevention and, training for healthcare professionals, who may represent a window of opportunity, for the ransom of abused elderly people. Abuse against the elderly, in fact, can, determine important and persistent health consequences. If the physical signs are more, easily recognizable and there are tools for differential diagnosis with respect to pathologies, who may mimic signs and symptoms, the more difficult it is to diagnose psychological violence,, which often gives visible effects only in the long term. Violence also represents, an important cause of hospitalization of the elderly person and is related to a, increase in mortality, due not only to the intrinsic fragility of this population,, but also to coexisting diseases that may be further aggravated by a, their incorrect management., During the intervention, some of the fundamental requirements for a correct, screening in the clinical-care field of abuse against the elderly who, if, applied, they truly transform healthcare personnel into a window of opportunity3. Tutti, health professionals, therefore, must be trained on gender violence, they must be, able to deal with this phenomenon whatever the age of the person being cared for, taking, always bear in mind that violence has no preferences in terms of sex, age, social class, ethnicity,, level of education., For a better contextualization of the phenomenon in Piedmont, they will also be presented, Preliminary data from research on the spread of violence among older women based on, of the experience of Emergency Rooms and centers dedicated to clinical-care management, present in our territory.