Elder abuse tends to take place where the senior lives — most often in the home where abusers are apt to be adult children, other family members (such as grandchildren) or spouses/partners of elders. Institutional settings, especially long-term care facilities and nursing homes, can also be sources of elder abuse.

Elders need to tell their stories, only then will others be able to stop the horror from happening to loved ones. My mother was subjected to financial abuse, but there are many other types of abuse that happen daily.

All too often , elders are robbed of jewelry and/or money, and are not being protected by the very people who are responsible for them.

Senior citizens are exposed to domestic violence, financial scams, financial abuse, sexual assault, neglect and abandonment by those that profess to care about them.

The public needs to be better educated on the signs and symptoms of elder abuse and learn how to report any suspicion of abuse. A report can be made anonymously through the Department of Health and Human Services or by calling 911, or a local police department.

We all need to be more vigilant and better educated.

Mary Jane Newell, Oxford