We must face up to challenges of elder abuse
By GARY FITZGERALD
18 August 2008
NEARLY 350,000 older people are abused each year in the UK, often by members of their own families, according to a new report.
But this UK-wide study has also revealed another startling result: elder abuse in Scotland is the second highest in the UK at 4.3 per cent, compared with six per cent in Wales, 3.9 per cent in England and three per cent in Northern Ireland.
And more victims are men than women, a situation not seen in other UK nations.The study of the Abuse and Neglect of Older People, funded by the English Department of Health and the charity Comic Relief, has identified that, overall, four per cent of older people face abuse by family, care staff and neighbours, and very often the impact of the abuse upon them is serious or very serious. Conservative estimates suggest that over 105,000 face neglect, 86,500 have property or valuables stolen, and a staggering 42,500 are sexually assaulted or abused. One-fifth of all theft is perpetrated by domiciliary care workers.The scale of elder abuse is staggering, particularly when you realise the research did not include people in institutions or care homes, or people with dementia. This is the hidden abuse of UK society, exposed comprehensively for the first time.
However, we need to understand better what is happening in Scotland. Consequently, we are now calling upon the Scottish Government to fund further research into this issue, to discover why so many older people are likely to face abuse in Scotland, and why it is most likely to be older men.
The abuse of older people is blight on our society and there is a duty on all of us to face up to the challenges posed by this report. The four governments of the UK must now begin to give the same level of priority to the abuse of adults as we see with children. At the end of the day, we hurt just as much at 78 years as we do at eight years of age.
Gary FitzGerald is chief executive of Action on Elder Abuse. The charity is hosting a conference on elder abuse in Edinburgh on September 17.
SOURCE: Scotsman News
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