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Elderly Hoarders: Beyond Reality Television

Elderly Hoarders: Beyond Reality Television. Georgia J. Anetzberger, PhD, ACSW, LISW. Definition of Hoarding. a pattern of excessively collecting and saving useless things that results in an inability to use living spaces for their intended purpose, interferes with daily functioning, and

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Elderly Hoarders: Beyond Reality Television

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  1. Elderly Hoarders: Beyond Reality Television Georgia J. Anetzberger, PhD, ACSW, LISW

  2. Definition of Hoarding • a pattern of excessively collecting and saving useless things that • results in an inability to use living spaces for their intended purpose, • interferes with daily functioning, and • creates risk for the individual

  3. Hoarding vs. Collecting vs. Cluttering

  4. Profile of Elderly Hoarders • female • median age mid-70s • unmarried • homeowner • lives alone • socially isolated

  5. Hoarder Traits • long term behavior • lifestyle choice • mentally competent • indecisive • perfectionist • avoidance • disorganized • procrastination • sentimental • lacking insight

  6. Commonly Hoarded Things • printed information • containers • clothing • food • items from someone’s trash • animals

  7. Common Hoarding Places • living room • dining room • bedroom • hallway • bathroom

  8. Potential Consequences of Hoarding for Hoarders • embarrassment or shame • avoiding having others into the home • difficulty finding things • conflict with family or neighbors over clutter • limitations of movement or use of home • health or safety risk • eviction • premature institutionalization

  9. Hoarding Truths • It often runs in families. • It may be associated with certain mental disorders. • It may be triggered by a traumatic event. • It isn’t common. • It’s rarely reported.

  10. Local Newspaper Headlines on Elderly Hoarding • Loner’s death brings guilt pangs • East Cleveland police rescue woman, 85 • Woman found in condemned home • Woman living without electricity is hurt in fire

  11. A Focus on Animal Hoarding Key Statistics 700-2,000 cases per year 46% age 60+ 39 median number of animals

  12. Distinct Features of Animal Hoarding • more than the usual number of companion animals • inability to provide even minimal standards of: nutrition sanitation shelter veterinary care • denial of care inadequacies and their consequences

  13. Commonly Hoarded Animals(in hierarchal order) • cats • dogs • birds • small mammals • reptiles • horses • cattle, goats, or sheep

  14. Recent Local Newspaper Articles on Elderly Animal Hoarders Number and Type of Animal Age of Hoarder 74 72 74 80 86 64 90 71 • 30 miniature Dobermans • 20 cats • 92 cats • 21 cats • 30 dogs • 18 cats • 53 cats • 50 cats

  15. Types of Animal Hoarders • overwhelmed caregiver • rescuer/savior • breeder-hoarder • exploiter-hoarder

  16. Those Most Likely to Encounter Animal Hoarding Situations • animal control officers • adult protective services workers • police officers • social services workers • municipal agency staff • others

  17. Approaches for Addressing Hoarding • public health issue • social problem • self-neglect situation • animal rights concern • mental health disorder • medical syndrome

  18. Barriers to Effective Intervention with Hoarders • high hoarding recidivism rate • hoarders refusing or restricting entry or help • hoarders denying that they or their animals are suffering due to hoarding • no single agency responsible for hoarding • lack of mandatory reporting of hoarding situations • laws protecting residents from being ousted from their homes • clutter interfering with service delivery • difficulty in getting the public to take hoarding cases seriously

  19. Legal Interventions with Hoarding: Various Intents • protecting the hoarder • adult protective services • civil commitment • guardianship • protecting the public • health, safety, and housing codes • preventing cruelty • humane treatment of animals • preserving the rights of hoarders • fair housing • criminalizing hoarding • no state law

  20. Clinical Interventions with Hoarders: What Has Been Found Useful • early recognition and introducing alternative behaviors • peer support groups • service coordination • hoarding-specific community task forces • partial hospitalization

  21. medications • behavioral techniques • carefully defined successful outcomes • use of before and after photos

  22. Scales for Assessing Hoarding • Hoarding Scale • Savings Inventory Revised • Savings Cognition Inventory • Yale-Brown Compulsive Scale

  23. Suggestions for Working with Hoarders • use a gentle approach • let the person tell her/his own story • treat the person with respect and dignity • understand the meaning and attachment to possessions • remain calm and factual • offer specific assistance • give the person a sense of control

  24. refer for medical and mental health evaluation and other community resources • focus first on organizing possessions and very little on discarding them • later address more threatening issues • be reassuring and go slowly • involve the person in seeking solutions • work with other agencies and the person’s family and friends • maintain realistic expectations about the hoarder’s ability to change

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