By Curt Chapman
Staff Writer

FAIRHOPE, Ala. — When Debby Bitticks brought her aging father to live in the home she shared with her husband, Ken, and their children, she knew very little about the challenges they would face attending to his needs. She also didn’t realize that abusing and preying upon senior citizens had become a common occurrence in this country, so she set out to help change that.

Rabbi Meier Schimmel and his daughter, Debby Bitticks, share a moment together. Bitticks and her husband, Ken, are now advocates hoping to increase awareness of the dangers of elder abuse. Photo courtesy of Debby Bitticks.

“I got a phone call several years ago that my father was ill, and I became his caregiver,” Bitticks said. “My husband and I were very naive. It was a really good experience.”

It wasn’t long after Rabbi Meier Schimmel moved in that Ken’s father, Raymond Bitticks, lost his wife, and the family hired outside help to care for him in his home. She noted, however, “We began to see changes in my father-in-law. My own father noticed changes. So we hired a private investigator, and learned he was being abused by his caregiver. We found out it’s an epidemic.”

The elder Bitticks, a devout Christian, was then brought home to live with Debby’s family, where both he and Schimmel urged their son and daughter to get involved in educating people about the dangers faced by an aging population.

According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, a senior citizen is abused every 2.7 minutes. For Debby Bitticks, whose father joined the U.S. Army after arriving from Germany, where he had escaped the Holocaust, that was unacceptable.

“These two men begged us to go out and tell people what is going on,” Bitticks said. The couple did so by producing an informative DVD, “Saving Our Parents,” hosted by award-winning actor Ed Asner, with commentary by Art Linkletter, Michael Reagan, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and a host of others.

Among the topics covered are knowing how to spot crooked conservators, choosing a nurturing nursing home for your aging loved ones, the potential pitfalls of nursing home care, multiple generations living together harmoniously, hired caregiver crimes and how to prevent them, information about the role of a geriatric care manager, signs of abuse, neglect or illness that your parents might not mention and telemarketing and other scams.

Bitticks said, “One of the segments is about nursing homes, and one of the most important things ever is to go in unannounced on a regular basis.”

She noted not all nursing homes are bad, but those that are simply trying to turn an easy profit often reduce labor costs by attending to residents less than they should, including failing to turn them until bedsores have created infections that pass into their bones.

“They die a terrible death,” Bitticks said. “Often when they’re ill, they will not take them to the hospital. Even if you have to pay someone to go in for you, it’s so worth it to check on a loved one.”

Although Debby and Ken were able to care for their parents at home, they hired help to look after them while they worked. Even though under their roof, the couple guarded them ferociously.

“You do not know who you’re letting into your house,” she said. “There are (bad) people that advertise and call looking for work.”

Bitticks continued, saying, “There are well-organized crime groups who do nothing but go after elderly people,” Bitticks said. “They begin treating them like a friend on the phone, and they don’t realize they’re being taken.” Such criminals are often trained to enter the eldercare field and know how to spot dementia.

Others even approach seniors in shopping center parking lots and offer to help load groceries, then follow them home and ease into their lives.

Bitticks advises children of aging parents to watch their incoming and outgoing mail, as well as their caller I.D. in order to prevent scams. She said, “The more we can get the Baby Boomers to be aware of this, the more they can set up a system to remind their parents and grandparents.”

Sid Kirchheimer, an AARP advisor, writes, “People over age 60 make up only one-eighth of the U.S. population, yet they constitute one of every three scam victims.” Telephone ploys, identity theft, get-rich-quick schemes, sweepstakes prizes — today’s hucksters have a wide-ranging repertoire of tricks in their bag.

Asner stated, “Everyone needs to be more aware of elder abuse and take steps to protect themselves and their loved ones. ‘Saving Our Parents’ is a must-see documentary.”

The DVD was produced and directed by Emmy winner Jeff MacIntyre. Its mission is to protect the aging population of the country and help adult children care for their parents. Interviewees tell shocking stories of families deceived by predators and offer lifesaving information from the country’s most trusted experts on the topic.

The DVD available for purchase at www.savingourparents.com for $29.95. A portion of the proceeds go toward Alzheimer’s research and elder abuse prevention.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day coincided with Father’s Day on Sunday. The advocate couple’s fathers didn’t live to see their dream fully become a reality with the April release of the DVD. Schimmel died in 2005. Bitticks passed away the following year.

“We have to take a deep breath and think about what we want when we’re old,” Bitticks said. “Even if you don’t have a great relationship with your parents, look at it as the moral or right thing to do.”

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