Adult Abuse Coalition To Hold 13th Annual Vulnerable Adult Summit

The Upper Cumberland Adult Abuse Coalition will hold its 13th annual summit Tuesday designed to educate the public on vulnerable adult abuse.

Senior Medicare Patrol Project Manager Loni Hitchcock said education is the coalition’s primary mission. Hitchcock said the coalition advocates against the many ways perpetrators scam, exploit, and abuse the elderly.

“So the best thing I can do is educate,” Hitchcock said . “We can educate caregivers. Educate as many seniors as we can. Educate as many people as we can to help protect this vulnerable population.”

Hitchcock said the summit will educate on several topics such as signs of abuse, types of scams and financial exploitation, and signs of dementia. She said speakers will share not only how to recognize these issues, but also what steps you should take.

Hitchcock said education and advocacy had already resulted in changes such as the Silver Alert to locate lost seniors. Hitchcock said advocacy had also broadened  the types of financial abuse that can be investigated.

“They can investigate all types of financial exploitation,” Hitchcock said. “Used to they could only investigate if it came from federal funds like  social security that sort of thing. Now they can actually investigate all types of financial abuse.”

Hitchcock said all who attend should leave better equipped to protect themselves and others from potential elder abuse.

“And there’s so many different types of scams,” Hitchcock said. “Like there’s the grandparent scam, there’s the romance scam, there’s the you’ve won the lottery scam. There’s even the utility scam, the social security scam, and medicare scams.

The 13th annual Upper Cumberland Vulnerable Adult Summit will be held at The Edge Building of Life Church in Cookeville, from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Tuesday.