Senior Lives Matter aims to raise the issue of abuse of the elderly to the Presidential campaign trail.
The cost of long term care, elder abuse and problems in guardianship systems have not created much discussion on the Presidential campaign trail despite the fact that seniors are left vulnerable to abuse.
There is a chance that that might change as 13 Action News reports in “Guardianship reform hits campaign trail” that organizers are hoping to get candidates to commit to acting on the issues.
The organizers have started a petition called “Senior Lives Matter.” The petition is addressed to Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Organizers hope that if they get enough support, the candidates will be compelled to address guardianship issues.
As of this writing the online petition has only received 220 signatures.
While this petition might not have the desired effect of injecting guardianship issues into the Presidential election, this is an issue that will not go away.
The guardianship systems in the U.S. are in need of reform in many places. Failure to reform will continue to leave seniors vulnerable to both physical and financial elder abuse.
Reference: 13 Action News (March 8, 2016) “Guardianship reform hits campaign trail”
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