Most importantly, the family's natural link with community living is a way for the adult with disabilities or the elderly person to relate to all the other parts of the community. This enables him or her to have a rich, full life. It includes but is not limited to, direct beatings, choking, sexual assault, unreasonable physical constraint or pain with no physical marks. Material abuse - is the misuse of an elder's property or financial resources. Material abuse includes financial deception, diverting income, mismanagement of funds, and taking money against the person's will.
Most elder abuse occurs in isolation, unnoticed, leaving the victim unprotected.
Thus, by reporting abuse, victims' and abusers' needs can be identified and services implemented to reduce those stresses that lead to elder abuse. The principal purpose of investigation is prevention, to offer to the elderly person those services, which might relieve their abuse and deter recurrence. The focus of intervention is to maintain the client in the least restrictive environment. Under the law, persons are protected since they are reporting in good faith. Both the reporting person and the victim's names are kept confidential.