adult protection

Noun

adult protection (uncountable)

1. Policies and actions in place for the protection of (sometimes vulnerable) adults; adult safeguarding.
   • I am not in favor of the block grant approach to social services. I feel that the elderly will take a second or third or fourth place seat to other special interest groups. The adult protection should be given priority status with child protection and other domestic violence concerns.1981 March 23, Tim Cash, Abuse of Older Persons: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Human Services of the Select Committee on Aging, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 18
   • The proper application of adult protection statutes to incompetent people will often be as dependent on thorough, fair, complete competency assessment as the imposition of guardianship is. In fact, some laws explicitly make incompetency a ground for intervention.1994, Michel Silberfeld, Arthur Fish, When the Mind Fails: A Guide to Dealing with Incompetency, University of Toronto Press, →ISBN, page 129
2. (euphemistic, uncommon) Adult incontinence wear, such as adult diapers, pads, diaper briefs or incontinence briefs.
   • For effective adult protection, there's nothing like new SERENITY Guards, available in Super and Regular.1987 September 16, “Welcome news for every woman in search of effective adult protection”, in The Miami News, Special Advertising Section, page 5D
   • The demand for incontinence garments will grow. Birth rates for babies have passed their peak, but the number of adults in high-risk ages for incontinence increases yearly. Babies are in diapers for less than thirty months; adult protection is sometimes required for a decade or longer.1993, Judd H. Alexander, In Defense of Garbage, Bloomsbury Academic, →ISBN, page 61
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see adult, protection. (i.e. protection by adults)
   • All children need adult protection, but not all adults deserve to have children.