Province-wide program to raise awareness about elder abuse
By Max Harrold
Montreal Gazette
November 10, 2010
The impatient grocery store cashier uttered a disdainful "hmmmpph!" as an elderly woman fiddled in her change purse for the right amount of money.
The adult child spoke sternly to a forgetful parent, reminding her she might land in a seniors' home, which the parent has resisted and even feared.
The persuasive telemarketer chatted up a storm with the lonely senior before obtaining an address and a credit card number and hanging up.
In subtle gestures and recurring patterns like these, elder abuse in Quebec shows itself daily and helps to explain an alarming 31-per-cent hike in certain crimes - including fraud - alleged by people over 65 between 2003 and 2007, experts who deal with the elderly said yesterday.
But many more seniors remain silent about the abuses they may suffer, and for this reason the Fédération de l'Âge d'Or du Québec, better known as the FADOQ, announced a province-wide program Wednesday with the Cavendish health department and the Sûreté du Québec to hold information sessions advising the elderly, their relatives and friends about what constitutes elder abuse and what they can and should do about it.
The program, to be phased in gradually starting next year, will involve seniors who are members of community groups and police officers meeting with groups who request an information session, members of the SQ, FADOQ and the CSSS Cavendish explained in a statement.
Statistics show 150,000 seniors are victims of abuse or neglect in Quebec every year and 40 per cent of reported cases involve fraud like that which is perpetrated by telemarketers. The new program will include ways to recognize elder abuse victims, perpetrators and tips to avoid falling prey to abusers.
SOURCE: The Montreal Gazette
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