Arizona ranked 5th-best state for elder abuse protections
Dec 7, 2018, 4:45 AM
(Pixabay Photo)
(Pixabay Photo)
PHOENIX — A personal finance website ranked Arizona the fifth-best state for elder abuse protections.
WalletHub compared the states based on 14 indicators in three categories: the prevalence of elder abuse, resources put toward elder abuse prevention and protection against elder abuse.
Arizona ranked among the top 10 states in the resources and protection categories, but ranked 30th for prevalence.
“In terms of prevalence, Arizona does see a higher number of elder abuse, gross neglect and exploitation complaints than most others states because there are simply more elderly folks around,” Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.
But, Gonzalez said, Arizona makes up for it with its commitment to providing resources — the state was also ranked fifth for highest total expenditures on elder abuse prevention.
Massachusetts was the best state for overall elder abuse protection, followed by Wisconsin, Nevada and Michigan.
New Jersey, Wyoming and South Carolina made up the bottom of the list.
According to WalletHub, there are an estimated 5 million cases of elder abuse each year, with 95 percent of them going unreported.
“This is certainly an issue that’s real, that’s growing, and most states know that. Arizona knows that a little bit more than others,” Gonzalez said.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Ali Vetnar contributed to this report.
