Public Urged to Report Senior Abuse (NB. CANADA)

NBers urged to report senior abuse

October 2nd, 2009

Seniors' advocate calls for independent agency to investigate and prosecute cases of abuse

By Alan Cochrane

Times & Transcript Staff

New Brunswick senior citizens are routinely abused and neglected by their families and spouses but most cases are never reported, but the provincial government is hoping new resources unveiled in Dieppe yesterday will help inspire more people to come forward to protect them.

"We've got to make sure that the public is aware that these problems do exist, but without reporting it how do we know how many cases there are? It's a matter of picking up the phone. If you know something is going on, there are places to call," Minister of State for Seniors Brian Kenny said yesterday at the launch of a booklet called "Preventing Abuse and Neglect of Seniors," which was compiled by the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick.
The new booklet was compiled after several months of research with a goal of providing good information for seniors, their families, friends and others who might be aware of abusive situations. The bilingual booklet says seniors suffer from abuse in their own homes, nursing homes and special-care homes. There are many kinds of abuse that can range from sexual assault and physical violence to messing with prescriptions, financial fraud and theft of pension cheques to outright neglect.



Abridged
SOURCE:    The Times Transcript

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