Neglect
Definition
Failure by a caregiver to provide the basic necessities of life (food, fluids, hygiene, medication, medical care) when they have the capacity and responsibility to do so. Distinct from self-neglect, where the older person themselves refuses or fails to meet their own needs.
- Field
- Elder abuse and adult safeguarding
- Actor
- A caregiver with capacity and duty
- Distinct from
- Self-neglect
- Examples
- Withholding food, hygiene, medication, medical care
Common questions
How does neglect differ from self-neglect?+
Neglect is a caregiver's failure toward a dependent person; self-neglect is when the older person themselves refuses or fails to meet their own needs, without a caregiver's failure involved.
Must neglect be intentional to be recorded as such?+
No. Assessment frameworks generally recognise both deliberate withholding and unintentional failure, for example from caregiver burnout, illness, or lack of skill, as neglect.
Related terms
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- FULMER ELDER Instrument
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