Elder financial abuse has been formally established as a public health issue by a new Centers for Disease Control report, said the director of the National Adult Protective Services Association, Kathleen Quinn, on Friday.

For the first time, the CDC has prepared a glossary of what constitutes this kind of exploitation, which can lead to physical and psychological injury and death for an increasing number of victims. Quinn was part of the team that helped develop the report

Because elder abuse is so complex, and involves many types of maltreatment and perpetrators including family members, paid caregivers and online scam artists, Quinn said the study will help policymakers and researchers understand what the issues are and how to address them.

“It puts everyone on the same page,” she said.

An increasing number of states are allowing and requiring advisors and other financial professionals to report suspected cases of elder financial abuse.

However, Quinn said they are going to have to use their own states’ definitions of elder financial exploitation rather than rely on the CDC guidelines.

Here are the CDC’s definitions for the different forms of senior financial harm:

Fraud

Deception carried out for the purpose of achieving personal gain while causing injury to another party. An intentional distortion of truth initiated to convince another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right.

Misappropriation

The intentional, illegal use of the property or funds of another person for one’s own use or another unauthorized purpose, particularly by any person with a responsibility to care for and protect another’s assets (a fiduciary duty).

Power of Attorney

A written document in which one person (the principal) appoints another person to act as an agent on his or her behalf, thus conferring authority on the agent to perform certain acts or functions on behalf of the principal. The certain acts may include signing papers, checks, title documents and contracts as well as handling bank accounts and other activities in the name of the person granting the power.

Undue Influence

The use of one’s role and power to exploit the trust, dependency and fear of another. The exploiter’s role and power are used in ways that deceive or mislead to gain control over the decision-making of the person being exploited.

Conservatorship

A conservatorship is created by the appointment of a conservator, also sometimes called a guardian. A conservator or guardian is a person or entity appointed by a court to manage the property, daily affairs, health or financial affairs of another person (called the conservatee or ward), usually someone who is legally incapacitated.

Trust

An entity created to hold assets for the benefit of certain persons or entities, with a trustee managing the trust (and often holding title on behalf of the trust).

Fiduciary

A person (or a business like a bank or stock brokerage) who has the power and obligation to act for another (often called the beneficiary) under circumstances that require total trust, good faith and honesty.

Fiduciary Duty

A duty to act for someone else’s benefit, while subordinating one’s personal interests to that of the other person. It is the highest standard of duty implied by law (e.g., trustee, guardian) assigned here.