HOUSTON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- The Baylor College of Medicine in Houston has begun a program to involve doctors, nurses and medical students in the detection of elderly abuse.
The program, one of five similar programs around the country, utilizes medical professions to make house calls at the behest of social workers and Adult Protective Services to determine whether elderly people are being abused, CBS News reported Wednesday.
If the visiting professionals suspect abuse, then medical, social services and criminal justice experts team up to handle the case.
Dr. Carmel Dyer, who heads the new program, said cases of elderly abuse can vary but a common thread between them is that the victims often do not realize or do not want to admit they are being abused.
"A lot of times the perpetrators are family members or people known to the senior, so they don't want to report that because they love their children and they don't understand why they are being so abusive to them or so neglectful of them," Dyer said.
