Marie-Therese Connolly, 54 years old, was recently named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow. A director of Life Long Justice, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C. is focused on protecting the elderly. She received a $500,000 award from the MacArthur Foundation, which will allow her to write a book on the subject and travel the country to educate others and push for change at programs that focus on caring for the aging community.

She explained, "Advancing forensic knowledge is important so social and protective services workers, physicians, emergency room personnel and prosecutors know what to look for and what kinds of questions to ask about injuries." One of her main missions is to raise awareness and teach people how to look for signs of elder abuse, "If we can help people understand how to tell the difference between an accidental bruise and an inflicted bruise, that's a beginning,

Elder abuse has reached epidemic proportions in this country. Connolly says that people can easily ignore elder abuse because it's harder to detect. While we may question bruises and fractures on young children, we assume that an older person can speak out for themselves. However, victims of elder abuse are often afraid to speak out for fear of getting transferred to a nursing home.

"We are all looking down the barrel of aging,'' Connolly says. "But our culture is not enthusiastic about embracing it. We need to focus, not just on the clubs and cruises aspect of aging, but also the frailty and incapacity pieces of it, and have the conversations to prepare ourselves, both in our personal lives and as a nation." 

Kudos to Ms. Connolly. Can't wait to read her book.