Doormen in Apartments and Condos Trained to Spot Elder Abuse

Doormen at Apartments, Condos Help Fight Elder Abuse

The doormen at apartments and condos may seem like their only responsibility is to greet visitors and hold open the door.  However, doormen can be the first line of defense against elder abuse, which is estimated to affect 3-10% of Americans.  Elder abuse can include physical, emotional and financial abuse and the elderly can be particularly vulnerable as they may live alone or be more trusting than people born in later decades.

Doormen Get Training to Spot Elder Abuse

Unfortunately, only 4% of elder abuse cases are reported to the police, but doormen are helping to eradicate this problem and receiving the training to do it, too.  Joy Solomon, director of the Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention in the Bronx, is leading the training seminars to teach doormen to spot elder abuse.  One of her primary teaching tools is to retell past stories of crimes committed against seniors in order to point out the signs that could have possibly prevented the incident.  Financial abuse is probably the most common form perpetrated against senior citizens by younger and more able-bodied members of society, sometimes even sons or daughters.

Friendly Face, Concerned Friend

Generally, doormen can help to prevent and stop elder abuse because they see a lot of things from their posts–they see who comes and goes, when mail gets delivered, and are a friendly face when greeting elderly residents.  They can tell a lot about a resident, too, by looking for signs of mental or physical decline or depression, which could lead to greater vulnerability to elder abuse.  Doormen need not be worried that they will lose their jobs, either.  Solomon says that doormen can report suspicion of elder abuse to the NYC Adult Protective Services agency anonymously.