EL MALTRATO A PERSONAS MAYORES EN EL ÁMBITO FAMILIAR. APROXIMACIÓN A LA SITUACIÓN EN MÁLAGA (ESPAÑA)

Abstract

The reality of Maltreatment to Elderly People (MEP) remains nowadays mainly invisible, despite being included among the most relevant social, political and professional concerns in the latest years. The MEP is defined as a complex and collective social problem, which takes place in the social-community field as well as in the institutional and familiar fields. This paper is focused on the latter, and it is approached with the primary goal of knowing its effects and its evolution as observed through the professionals in sanitary devices in Social Work. A descriptive study about 259 detected cases by the Sanitary District of Málaga during the period 2001-2010 is carried out. Results show characteristics of MEP related to the referenced literature, emphasizing the profile of the victim, mainly female, approximately 73 years old, and principally attacked by a man of her family environment. We conclude about the importance of advancing in the prevention and integral action in the presence of MEP, through a larger specific training of the professionals and the establishment and qualification of protocols of coordination among them.