18 November 2009
By Duane Hicks , Staff writer
“It’s your life. It should be your call.”
That’s the message Lee Stones of the Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse promoted Saturday at the fourth-annual Seniors’ Lifestyle Expo, which drew about 80 area seniors and their families/caregivers to Fort Frances High School.
“Are seniors being respected? I think that’s a really important question,” said Stones. “Are seniors being respected by the people that love them, neighbours, friends, their grandkids, all of the people around them?
“Because we are an ageist society, you get to a certain age and stage [which] other people perceive as not as serious or important as we used to be.
“Maybe we’re seen as forgetful, maybe we are seen as not being as powerful,” she added.
Elder abuse is defined as any act done by a person in a position of trust to a senior that causes then harm or stress, explained Stones, noting a stranger snatching an elderly woman’s purse on the street is a robbery, but when her grandson steals from her purse in her own home, it’s elder abuse because he betrayed her trust.
Stones said that when you ask someone if they know a senior who is being abused, they say they don’t. But once they learn what elder abuse really is, they realize they do know someone.
It can range from verbal abuse to neglect to being overprotective (i.e., preventing parents from driving, dating, leaving the house, etc.) to the most common form: financial abuse.
Whether it’s emotional abuse, financial abuse, physical abuse, or neglect, Stones said an estimated four-10 percent of seniors in the Fort Frances area are being abused in some way.
However, an estimated 90 percent of elder abuse is never reported.
Abridged
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