Elder Abuse and Carer Issues

Elder Abuse and Carer Issues
By Andrew Chadwick

Carer’s fatigue and shortage of staff in nursing homes have been cited as a cause of elder abuse in some studies.

How can we solve these problems in our attempts at elder abuse prevention?

Whilst we welcome any additional funding to the aged care sector, we must not lose sight of other related issues that must address. These include:

Making sure that there are sufficient staff in nursing home;
Training of careers must include elder abuse prevention; and what the community regards as elder abuse;
Proper channel of communication for “whistle-blowers”; confidentiality and safeguarding of reporters of elder abuse in nursing homes.

What about carers who look after family members in their own homes?

These carers often took on the responsibility of caring for loved ones at home, out of love must be given assistance and respite for their stressful care duties.
Government must realize that these carers are saving the public lots of money, by not sending the loved ones to state-run hospitals or nursing homes.
Enabling these carers to have “time off”. Government should set up facilities that can take over those cares for a few days.

Support for Dedicated Carers

We only hear or read about carers who abuse the elderly. We must not forget that there are many carers who are working extremely hard in their jobs. They are the unsung heroes who often give more then is required in their jobs. These same carers often suffer personal consequences e.g. depression. They become depressed because they cannot no matter how hard they worked, they cannot improved the situation in nursing homes that are under-staffed.

How about a ‘Carers Day’: a day to honour those dedicated carers?

Another important question that should be posed here:

Do we value our older persons/seniors enough, to work towards elder abuse prevention and better elder care?


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