Experienced caregivers will immediately recognize Gloria Davenport's descriptions of the "toxic" personality: elders who persistently poison their own care environment with noncompliant and psychologically abusive behavior. Toxic older adults are often hazardous cases for gerontology professionals: they can destroy care relationships, and even produce co-victimization in their caregivers.
Davenport presents ways that care providers can prevent difficult elders from manipulating the caregivers' energy and interfering with effective practice, relationships, and healing.