It's just the recognition that regardless of the language we choose in the legislation, it is essential to take this back to the experience of the older adult themselves. More often than not, they're afraid to disclose and they cannot tell their story. If they remain in isolation and behind closed doors, that escalates and often does lead to homicide or other things that are worse than that.
It's important for us to have conversations with older adults and to have an avenue where they are feeling empowered to safeguard their own selves in community. It really comes down to how everything we do as an organization is through that preventative lens. We're trying to educate older adults to look out for things like frauds and scams, but on the coercive control piece, it does limit a person's life when someone is taking control of the older adult's finances and they have limited health care access. Often that can lead to mortality as well.
