Physical harm
Intentional force, injury, inappropriate restraint, or other physical treatment that causes pain, illness, impairment, distress, or risk.
Learn with EASI
Understand elder abuse. Practice safer ways to respond.
Elder abuse can be hidden inside ordinary family life, caregiving, money, dependence, isolation, or conflict. Learning to recognize harm matters. So does knowing how to respond without taking an older adult’s voice, choices, or dignity away.
What elder abuse can include
Harm does not always look like a visible injury.
Elder mistreatment can involve physical, sexual, psychological, financial, or neglect-related harm. Fraud and exploitation may also occur outside a family relationship. The signs can overlap with health, caregiving, or cognitive changes, which is one reason careful observation and respectful questions matter.
Sexual abuse
Any forced or unwanted sexual contact or sexual act involving an older adult.
Psychological or emotional abuse
Threats, humiliation, intimidation, isolation, coercion, or other behavior that causes fear, anguish, or distress.
Neglect
Failure by a caregiver or trusted person to provide essential care, protection, nutrition, hygiene, medical attention, or safe shelter.
Financial exploitation or fraud
Improper use of an older adult’s money, property, benefits, identity, accounts, or decision-making authority for someone else’s benefit.
Why people may not ask for help
Safety and relationship can pull in opposite directions.
An older adult may depend on, love, fear, protect, or live with the person causing harm. They may worry about losing independence, housing, family connection, caregiving support, or control over what happens next.
Fear of retaliation or making the situation worse
Shame, embarrassment, or not wanting others to know
Fear of losing independence or being moved from home
Love, loyalty, or dependence on a family member or caregiver
Isolation or lack of trusted people to talk with
Cognitive, hearing, vision, mobility, language, or technology barriers
Conflict is not the same as abuse
Some family conflict can be worked through. Abuse changes the safety equation.
Conflict may still leave room for choice.
People can disagree strongly and still be able to say no, leave the conversation, ask for help, set limits, and participate without fear of retaliation.
Abuse can remove real choice.
Threats, coercion, intimidation, control of money or medication, isolation, neglect, violence, or fear can make a family conversation unsafe or inappropriate without outside support.
Restorative elder justice
Restorative practice is not reconciliation at any cost.
A restorative approach asks what an older adult wants, what harm needs to stop, what accountability is meaningful, and what support is needed around the people involved. Sometimes that means a facilitated conversation. Sometimes people work separately. Sometimes a restorative process should not happen at all.
Voice & choice
Start with what the older adult wants, needs, understands, and is willing to consider. Participation should never be forced.
Safety before dialogue
A conversation is not restorative if fear, coercion, retaliation, or an unsafe power imbalance prevents genuine choice.
Accountability
Restorative practice is not about minimizing harm. It asks what happened, who was affected, what responsibility exists, and what needs to change.
Repair & support
When appropriate, the goal may include repairing harm, rebuilding support, setting boundaries, changing behavior, and strengthening the network around an older adult.
Skills anyone can practice
Better conversations can be part of prevention.
These skills are for everyday conflict, connection, and early prevention. They are not instructions to confront someone who may be abusive or dangerous.
1
Ask one question at a time and leave room for silence.
2
Describe what happened before assuming why it happened.
3
Name needs, choices, and boundaries in plain language.
4
Slow the conversation down when emotion rises.
5
Do not pressure an older adult to reconcile, forgive, or participate.
6
Stop and seek outside help when fear, coercion, threats, abuse, or safety concerns are present.
When to get outside help
You do not have to decide what category a situation fits before asking for help.
If there is immediate danger, call 911. Fresno County Adult Protective Services takes reports 24/7 at (559) 600-3383 or (800) 418-1426. For concerns involving a resident of a long-term care facility, the Fresno–Madera Long-Term Care Ombudsman can be reached at (559) 224-9177.