By Carol Goar
Editorial Board, The Star
They’ve tried to raise money. But when people hear their cause, they turn away. Elder abuse is not an appealing topic.
They’ve approached a succession of cabinet ministers. (Ontario has gone through four seniors’ ministers in the past three years.) Each has been more noncommittal than the last.
They’ve begged the Ontario Trillium Foundation to renew their three-year grant. But it doesn’t provide extensions or renewals.
Now, with 33 days left to come up with $75,000, the Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse is staring at the prospect of closing its Senior Safety Line.
It handles 13,000 calls a year from frightened seniors, distraught family members, worried friends and concerned caregivers. It operates round-the-clock in 150 languages. Each operator is trained to understand the needs of vulnerable seniors and offer practical, confidential advice. It is now running at 100 per cent capacity.
But no one is willing to pay for it.
Teri Kay, executive director of the Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, which created the help line, admits she and her colleagues didn’t plan for this eventuality. “We naively thought another funder would step forward,” she said.
The seniors’ protection network, like many other voluntary groups, assumed that once it proved the hotline was viable and needed, the provincial government would take over.
“Three years ago, that was reasonable,” Kay said. “In the current (fiscal) situation, it’s very hard to establish new programs.”
She is still scrambling to secure long-term funding. Several potential partners have expressed interest. But even if one of them steps in, the money won’t come through until at least mid-year.
That’s why the network is appealing to the public for help.
“This vital hotline simply cannot be shut down,” it says. “The immediate need is $75,000 which will sustain it for another six months.”
So far the organization has raised just $5,000.
It tried asking families and community groups to host tea parties to get word out and bring in donations. But the majority of Ontarians still don’t want to acknowledge or hear about elder abuse.
It tried lobbying MPPs. But as the province’s budgetary woes deepened, they resorted to expressions of moral support.
It tried to get media attention. But there’s nothing new or clear-cut about elder abuse. There are no reliable statistics on the prevalence of the problem. According to people who work in the field, between 4 and 10 per cent of seniors are physically, emotionally, sexually or financially abused or deprived of life’s necessities, but these are just estimates. Nor are there any simple remedies. Many seniors are afraid to speak up. Many Ontarians believe a family’s privacy is sacrosanct. (To their credit, several of my Star colleagues have written powerful stories about abused and neglected seniors.)
What the network can say with assurance is that the Senior Safety Line has made a difference.
Victims of elder abuse are seeking help. They may not be willing to go to the police, but they do want to tell their stories, ask for advice and find out what services are available in the community.
More cases of elder abuse are being reported. Seniors may be reluctant to identify the perpetrator, especially when it is a member of the family, but those who are in serious danger can sometimes be persuaded to talk to a police officer.
Politicians are beginning to respond. The federal government committed $567,000 last fall to developing tools to detect and measure elder abuse. The province claims to have launched the country’s first strategy to combat elder abuse in 2009. A handful of backbenchers have introduced private member’s bills to expose and prevent the victimization of older people.
These initiatives are useful, Kay says, but it is essential to preserve existing services.
“We’d go from month to month if we had to,” she said, emphasizing that any donation, no matter how small, would be welcome.
She shouldn’t have to beg. Abused seniors shouldn’t have to depend on the mercy of strangers.
(More information is available at http://www.onpea.org/)
SOURCE: The Star
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