UK Report: 700.000 elderly 'abused at home or in care'

700,000 elderly 'abused at home or in care'
By Maria Thompson
Last Updated: 1:22am BST 11/06/2007

More than 700,000 elderly people are abused in their own homes or privately run nursing homes, a new report will reveal.
The findings of the study, which has been conducted for almost two years, are due to be released on Thursday in the run-up to World Elder Abuse Day on Friday.
It is understood that the report will disclose high levels of neglect, verbal abuse and behaviour that affects self esteem, although the amount of serious physical abuse and injury is thought to be relatively low. Ivan Lewis, the care minister, said: "We need to have a fresh look at the whole adult protection regime in this country.
"I want to see a situation where people are as outraged by the abuse of an older person as they are by the abuse of a child. Sadly, we are nowhere near that yet as a society but that culture has to change."
It is the first time that a study of the prevalence of elder abuse in people's own homes has been done in England.
The work has been done by researchers from King's College London and the National Centre for Social Research, and funded by Comic Relief and the Department of Health.
Age Concern England said the kind of abuse could range from bullying and neglect to carers stealing or manipulating elderly people to change their wills.
A spokesman for the charity said: "Abuses of this nature are completely unacceptable in any care setting. It must stop.
Care homes have a duty to provide a standard of care. It's shocking that some of those trusted to provide that care are failing in their duty. It's a violation of people's basic human rights.


One way to increase the protection for older people would be to extend the human rights act to include privately as well as publicly run care homes.
"Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, particularly are at their most vulnerable."

(Full Text: Telegraph.co.uk)

Let me echo Ivan Lewis's .."I want to see a situation where people are as outraged by the abuse of an older person as they are by the abuse of a child."

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