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Mexico’s Elder Abuse Crisis Draws New Alarms as Experts Detail Violations in Care Homes

Experts urge person-focused care through full enforcement of older persons’ rights following reports of restraints, overmedication, hunger, neglect in institutions.

Overview

  • Official data cited by coverage indicate 16.3% of older adults in Mexico have suffered maltreatment within their family, with psychological abuse most common and women reporting higher rates near 19.2%.
  • Specialists convened by the National Institute of Geriatrics described normalized institutional practices that violate dignity, including physical restraints and sedating residents to keep them asleep.
  • Testimony from care professionals detailed routine breaches of privacy and respect, such as bathing without courtesy, switching on lights without warning, and failing to inform residents about peers’ deaths.
  • Experts reported food insecurity inside some facilities, noting residents who feel hunger between meals and resort to buying cookies or sharing food to cope.
  • The Mexican Catholic Church urged society to reject the discarding of older people and announced a special Mass for grandparents and seniors at the Basilica of Guadalupe on August 31.