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PROGRESS REPORT ON... elder abuse

Charmaine Spencer

Simon Fraser University
Gerontology Research Centre

Abuse and neglect of older adults has taken much longer than other forms of family violence to come into public awareness as a significant social problem. However, in the last decade, there have been a number of advances in the area. Some are subtle, such as a shift in terminology from "elder abuse" to "senior abuse" or "abuse and neglect of adults in later life". This mental shift is helping us move past the ideas of seniors as automatically "frail" or incapable. It also helps to place abuse and neglect within a life continuum, where people can be at risk of different harms at different points in their lives.

There have been other important developments as well. During the past decade, we have begun to move past a superficial understanding of the problem, recognizing that abuse in later life is not a single-faceted problem. There has been an increasingly strong role taken by seniors to define the problem, and not have it defined for them. There has been commitment from seniors to want to be actively involved in the approaches that are developed to assist abused seniors. This is important, as 30-40% of abused seniors decline the kinds of help currently being offered. There has also been the gradual recognition across the country of the need to work together and share strategies, successes and challenges. One of the potential vehicles for that sharing is the development of a national network for the prevention of senior abuse, to identify resources, and areas for policy development. Across the country, we are also beginning to gradually recognize that abuse has long-term consequences, and that there are significant costs of the problem to society as a whole.

In British Columbia, one of the major thrusts of the last decade in this area has been the development of coordinated networks in over 65 communities so that abuse and neglect situations are not dealt with or responded to in a piecemeal manner. However, it has been a struggle to have Part 3 of the new adult guardianship legislation developed and implemented. Part 3 offers assistance and intervention to people, young and old, who are in an abusive situation but who are unable to seek support and assistance on their own because of a physical or mental condition. The challenge in the future will be to see whether there are adequate funding resources to match the good intentions of this legislation.

Because this is such a recently identified area, there are several areas where we could or should concentrate our efforts in the near future. First, we have to remember that the "risk" of abuse is not the same for all older adults. Thus, there is a need for research on the relative risk of abuse among seniors who are cognitively impaired or live in institutional settings. Research regarding cognitively impaired seniors needs to focus not only on risk, but also on what factors reduce the risk (the "protective factors") of what might otherwise be a high-risk situation for abuse or neglect. Research in institutional settings needs to consider the impact of reduced staffing on the risk of abuse or neglect to seniors in care, and on their overall quality of life. Second, we need to strengthen the social norms against abuse. Much of the abuse that currently occurs, happens because people feel "entitled" to take the assets of seniors as their own, or to treat older adults (particularly those in the care of others) as "lesser persons". Third, probably the most important direction needed in this area is a comprehensive provincial and national policy on abuse or neglect of older adults. This policy will need to be founded on a respect of older adults as valued members of the community, understanding their needs, and assuring adequate resources to prevent its occurrence while addressing it appropriately when it does occur.