The Age Friendly Committee of Moose Jaw is interested in exploring what life is like for the seniors in our community, and supporting them to achieve their goals to the best of our community’s ability. We want to have conversations about how seniors see themselves fitting into the broader society of which they are members. What are the obstacles that seniors face? What are the skills and knowledge that they bring into the public square?
Writing an article on behalf of the committee is one opportunity to engage with a difficult question of nevertheless extreme importance. I am asking “How are the elderly members of our community abused?” I will briefly describe some ways mistreatment of seniors occur, who are some of the potential sources of abuse, and finally what is the state of monitoring and intervening in cases of abuse of an elderly person. This is a difficult topic to face, and until relatively recently, essentially ignored or denied any thoughtful consideration or study.
The simple acknowledgement of elder abuse did not emerge in medical literature until 1975 when Dr. G.R. Burston published an entry in the British Medical Journal entitled ‘Granny-battering’. Burston claimed that abuse being disguised as older people ‘falling’ was ultimately “… another manifestation of the inadequate care we as a profession give to elderly people and to their relatives who are left with the task of coping with them unaided and unsupported by us.”
In Canada elder abuse was not investigated in earnest until the 1990s. An early challenge in the field was to develop a standard definition of elder abuse which could then frame subsequent investigations. What has emerged is agreement on five major categories of elder abuse, each having their own distinct characteristics and tendencies.
Physical is the form of abuse most readily available to our minds. This involves acts carried out with the aim of causing physical pain or injury. Examples includes direct attacks like hitting, scratching, or burning, but can also involve less considered acts such as the use of restraints.
Psychological abuse can be explicitly verbal, or more take more subtle forms like intimidation or isolation.
Sexual abuse relates to any unwanted sexual contact of any kind, and can be evidenced by sexually transmitted infections, particularly appearing clustered in care facilities.
Financial abuse can be created by strangers like predatory phone and internet scams, or more often by people known to the victim as when family misuses a senior’s money or resources.
Neglect is a designated care giver failing to meet the needs of a dependent older person. Evidence of neglect can include bed sores, dehydration, poor hygiene or lack of medication adherence.
People have a tremendous capacity to care, support, and value each other. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. More often than we like to consider, the most vulnerable among us become targets for manipulation, exploitation, and outright violence. Being aware of what to look for when assessing whether someone is falling victim to such experiences is essential. In the context of our elderly members of society, we have described five particular forms of abuse: physical, psychological, sexual, financial, and neglect.
Another factor of importance besides the form of abuse a senior may be facing is the relation of the abuser to the abused. Studies have suggested that the most likely sources of abuse towards an elderly person are their spouse and/or adult children. Evidence also supports the belief that mistreatment of care home residents by staff is an ongoing problem, but lesser appreciated is the more significant rate of abuse perpetrated by residents onto fellow residents.
Regardless of the form or source of abuse, once mistreatment of a senior has been identified it must be reported to the appropriate authorities so that interventions can happen. Further effort is needed to identify what interventions are both accessible and effective for providing relief from abuse as quickly as possible. Laws regarding mandatory reporting by professionals are one example of efforts to establish intervention protocols, but evidence of decreased rates of abuse as a result of mandatory reporting is minimal. Some research has suggested reporting protocols are substantially less impactful than public and professional awareness and education efforts. The picture of best practice for intervening in instances of elder abuse does not look like a single intervention at a single time by one authority. Intervention is more currently seen as ongoing, interagency collaboration which is recognized as both community based and resource intensive.
Simply put, protecting our seniors requires more of us, working together with more investment more of the time. Those of us on the Age Friendly Committee invite you to join us in taking strides to value, support, and protect the elders of our community.
Information Sourced From:
- Mark S. Lachs & Karl A. Pillemer, Elder Abuse. The New England Journal of Medicine (Nov. 2015)
- Lynn McDonald, Elder Abuse and Neglect in Canada: The Glass is Still Half Full. Institute for Life Course and Aging, University of Toronto (2011)
- Burston G.R., Granny-battering. British Medical Journal 3: 592. (1975) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1674523/pdf/brmedj01463-0050b.pdf
Rom Jukes, Committee Member, Age Friendly Moose Jaw
