Protecting older adults in the Israeli health system: Cross-cultural interactions involved in legal and social elder abuse interventions

ABSTRACT

In 2002 the World Health Organization published a categorical definition of “Elder Abuse,” but the relevant social and legal interventions differ markedly even among Western-oriented countries. This article compares and contrasts approaches to this widespread and very serious problem in the New York City and the Israeli health-care systems. In today’s world, the members of a family do not all necessarily live on the same continent, so professionals must be aware of the way things are done in countries other than their own. The differences in the interventions employed, or not employed, in these two specific systems highlight the need to understand not only how elder abuse is dealt with in each place, but the conceptual framework that governs it. The present article can serve as a guide for American professionals and others concerned with the problems of elder abuse who function within the Israeli health care system.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural differences
• elder abuse
• health care
• legal approach
• social approach