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5 <br />the elder mistreatment cases estimated to be occurring in this county are known to <br />outside sources. The other 93~0 of mistreated eiders are hidden. The first step in <br />mitigating their suffering must be their identification. <br />ACTION PLAN: <br />The overall aim of this proposal is to increase public and professional awareness <br />and knowledge about elder abuse (including e~loitation) and neglect (including seff- <br />neglect) in Orange County, North Carolina in an effort to p~event its occurrence, and to <br />detect and assist the hidden cases that e~ast. The goals include to: <br />1. increase community awareness and the public's, including community <br />informants, knowledge of elder mistreatment; <br />2. educate health care, human services and other professionals and their <br />studerrts, especially first responders, community sentinels and long-term <br />care facility staff, about elder mistreatment; <br />3_ implement the use of a multidisciplinary elder mistreatment emergency <br />response team in tfie assessment and management of selected cases. <br />Community awareness and public education will be addressed in several ways. <br />Recently two area newspapers have begun a series of artiGes on aging and the elderiy <br />They will be asked to include articies on elder mistreatment induding its risk factors, <br />signs and syrnptoms, effects on the partiapants, how to report it, where to go for help, <br />and relevant oommunity resources. Also attractive, eye-catching signs and brochures <br />wilt be placed in grocery stores, drug stores, schools, doctors' offices, util"ity bills, the <br />hospital, the senior centers, the nutrition sites for older adults, the department on aging <br />offices, the department of social services, etc. These signs and brochures will inGude <br />an APS °hot tine' number and the Department of Aging information and help line <br />number. The fatter number is ans~nrered by a person rather than by a voice mail <br />message. We witl also ask Bill Friday, President Emeritus at the University of North <br />