Cautious welcome for elder abuse research
Action on Elder Abuse (AEA), the charity focusing upon the abuse of older people, has welcomed the announcement that Comic Relief and the Department of Health are to collaborate in further research into the nature of elder abuse, but has expressed the hope that this research will lead to tangible outcomes for older people.
£2 million is being invested on the research. “The announcement that further research will be conducted into the abuse, neglect and lack of dignity of older people within institutions is obviously to be warmly welcomed,” said Gary FitzGerald, chief executive of AEA. “We need to understand the factors that influence poor practices or abusive behaviours, and we are pleased that the new research will include people who lack capacity and will focus upon institutional settings.”
The charity is awaiting details of the proposed research and is consequently tempering its enthusiasm for this major investment with a cautious desire to ensure that the research achieves meaningful outcomes for older people facing abuse. “We are conscious that the Prevalence Study results launched last June 2007 have yet to deliver changes in practice or further work to understand the key messages that arose,” said FitzGerald, “so we will be scrutinising this proposal to satisfy ourselves that the funding is being put to the best possible use; after all £2 million is a lot of money and research is only of use if it leads to change.”
The UK 2007 study into the prevalence of abuse and neglect of older people undertook research into elder abuse within people’s own homes, and did not include institutions or people who lacked the capacity to answer questions. That research has been used in Scotland to help prepare for implementation of the Adult support and protection (Scotland) Act 2007. AEA says there is no evidence that the reseach, which cost £600,000, has yet been used to effect change within the other three UK nations.
SOURCE: ppmagazineUK
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Any funding for research into Elder Abuse should be welcomed. However, we must be aware that often reports from researches are shelved, or allowed to gather dust. Reports and recommendations from researches MUST be followed up with appropriate actions. Without follow-through actions, the exercise is futile!
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