[acb-hsp] A Win for Elderly Advocacy

[peter altschul]

A Win for Elder Advocacy
  Ken Connor
  Last week, the MacArthur Foundation announced the winners of 
their annual "Genius Grant" awards.  Among the winners is 
Marie-Therese Connolly, an attorney and activist who has been 
awarded $500,000 for her work combating elder abuse in America.  
It is heartening to see that an organization with the resources 
and prestige of the MacArthur Foundation has taken note of 
Connolly's important work.
  The silent epidemic of elder abuse is an issue that has long 
motivated the work of an organization near and dear to my heart, 
the Center for a Just Society.  With so much injustice and 
suffering in this world, there are many worthy issues that 
receive the time, attention, and financial resources of 
philanthropic organizations.  Unfortunately, the plight of the 
elderly often goes overlooked.  This problem is exacerbated by a 
culture that has changed radically over the past several decades, 
becoming more and more obsessed with youth, more and more 
self-centered, more and more disconnected from intergenerational 
family bonds and obligations.
  According to prevailing attitudes about aging in America, there 
is very little to relish about growing older.  It is to be 
delayed and avoided.  Old age is not beautiful, it's not 
glamorous, it's not dignified.  There is a sense that the elderly 
have had their day in the sun, but are no longer capable of 
making a valuable contribution to society.  They should, 
therefore, retreat to the shadows and wait to die.  This is 
especially true when they suffer from conditions like dementia, 
which robs them of their reason and steals their memories along 
with their ability to interact with their environment.
  Many families, lacking the ability to provide for the needs of 
their loved ones, place their elderly relatives in facilities 
that advertise themselves as caring, safe, nurturing 
environments, but are in reality profit-driven businesses that 
care little for the well-being of their wards.  Their emphasis is 
on profits, not people, and they place revenue ahead of their 
residents.  Avoidable pressure ulcers, falls, fractures, 
infections, malnutrition, dehydration -- all are common problems 
among the institutionalized elderly.
  For those that do elect to care for their aging and infirm 
relatives at home, the motivation is not always benevolent.  
Connolly discussed one such instance in a recent interview with 
NPR:
  "[O]ne that comes to mind is the story of Ruby Wise.  Last year 
her son Chris was charged with her murder.  And what he had done, 
essentially, is let her rot to death.  He was her sole caregiver, 
spent his days, among other things, playing Internet poker and 
living off her pension while she literally was imprisoned, by her 
dementia, in her bed and developed huge pressure sores, many of 
which were bone-deep, exposing her bones.  And she cried out for 
help loudly for weeks before she died . . .  to him, and the 
neighbors heard.  They closed their windows, they didn't respond, 
and her son put in earplugs."
  This account should be enough to sicken anyone with a basic 
sense of moral decency, particularly those with an ethical 
grounding in the Christian religion.  Christians, maintain that 
all human beings are of infinite worth, value and dignity.  Our 
value stems not from the level of our economic productivity, but 
from the fact that we are created in the image a God who loved us 
so much that he sent His Son to die for us, notwithstanding our 
sin and frailties.  This value is not dependent on our age, size, 
or level of function.  It is unaffected by where we fall on the 
age continuum and undiminished by the ravages of time.
  It will be difficult to muster momentum on the problem of elder 
abuse in a cultural milieu that embraces a utilitarian spirit and 
a sliding scale of human dignity.  Nevertheless, Christians must 
be prepared to uphold the rights of the elderly as vigorously as 
they uphold the rights of the unborn, for surely the elderly are 
to be counted among the "least of these" to whom we owe a duty of 
care and concern.  Let us find inspiration in the work of heroes 
like Marie-Therese Connolly as we strive to raise the issue of 
elder abuse to the same level of social awareness as that of 
abortion, human trafficking, and other human rights issues that 
the Church has worked so hard to eradicate in this world.
  Ken Connor is Chairman of the Center for a Just Society.