Youth Speaking Up Against Elder Abuse

The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) have officially launched “Strategies for occupational therapists to address elder abuse/mistreatment”, a resource tool that will build health human resource capacity to address and manage elder abuse. Click here to access the tool.

The Worldwide Face of Elder Abuse -2nd Study

The WorldView Environmental Scan on Elder Abuse was the first large-scale global survey of elder abuse and obtained more information from more respondents representing more countries than any previous study. It built on early work that resulted in the document Missing Voices. Respondents came from developed and developing countries and all regions of the world, yet another research first.

Following the initial Worldview Environmental Scan, it is now time to conduct a second international study, “The Worldwide Face of Elder Abuse”. The purpose of this new inquiry is to build on the original Worldview Environmental Scan (Podnieks, Anetzberger, Wilson, Teaster, & Wangmo, 2010). In so doing, we seek to further our knowledge of elder abuse and understand how and why people mistreat elders on a global scale.

Ryerson University (Elizabeth Podnieks, Ph.D.), Cleveland State University (Georgia Anetzberger, Ph.D.), the University of Kentucky (Pamela Teaster, Ph.D.) and the International Federation on Aging are collaborating on this project. Click here for more information.

If your organization is interested in contributing to the study please contact Mr. Greg Shaw at gshaw@ifa-fiv.org to register your interest.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) 2011, Toronto, Canada

Presentations

Financial Abuse of Seniors Meeting Report

Financial abuse constitutes up to 50% of all reported cases of abuse perpetrated against older Canadians, and can have significant impacts not only on the financial security of seniors, but also on their emotional well-being. It is the most difficult kind of abuse for service providers, police services, and judicial systems to provide an adequate response, as most financial abuse is hidden and many victims are unaware of the abuse.

To discuss this issue and its solutions, The Department of Human Resources and Skills Development in collaboration with the International Federation on Ageing hosted a high-level meeting on the financial abuse of seniors to raise awareness, build networks, and create a dialogue on the financial abuse of seniors. Delegates discussed challenges existing in preventing, detecting and responding to this issue, shared promising best practices and explored how to best address the financial abuse of seniors.

The meeting was purposefully developed as a neutral platform that brought together key industry parties to develop a proactive, preventative approach to combating financial abuse of older people. All participants have demonstrated a willingness to collaborate and create a deeper understanding of the current impediments in this field, and to consider efficiencies and mechanisms for subtle yet important changes to improve the lives of older Canadians.

Read the full report here.

New Community and Teen Elder Abuse Awareness Tool Kits

WEAAD 2010 Toronto, Canada – Launch of two important educational resources. The Community Elder Abuse Awareness Tool Kit, funded by the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and the Teen Elder Abuse Awareness Kit funded by the Public Health Agency Canada (PHAC). The proceedings of the Toronto initiative, together with the English and French versions of Community and Teen Elder Abuse Awareness Kits are now available on the IFA website.