CSHS and ERoSH welcome the findings of the UK study of abuse and neglect of older people 2007
CSHS and ERoSH welcome the research, published by Comic Relief and the Department of Health, which sets out the incidence of elder abuse. We believe that the impact of this research will help to raise public awareness and go towards tackling the extent of this hidden problem.
We also believe that the evidence reinforces our view that sheltered housing can be a place of safety for older people who need to leave their family to escape abuse.
The research was led by King's College London and conducted by the National Centre for Social Research. Between March and September 2006, 2100 older people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland took part in the survey. The survey found that four per cent of older people had been abused in their own homes in the last year, often by members of their own family. There was no evidence that these individuals had any contact with adult protection systems, suggesting that protective services are failing to reach or support older people experiencing abuse at home.
Four per cent older people equates to 342,000 people. Extrapolating the percentages that report the different kinds of abuse, this equates to:
- 105,000 facing neglect
- 86,500 facing financial abuse
- 58,600 facing psychological abuse
- 62,400 facing physical abuse
- 42,500 facing sexual abuse.
Over three quarters of victims considered the impact of the abuse to be serious or very serious, and felt angry, upset, isolated or experienced a physical effect as a consequence.
ERoSH Director of Policy, Imogen Parry, says that: "With demographic and policy trends leading to increasing numbers of vulnerable older people, it is a sad reality that the potential for elder abuse could increase. CSHS and ERoSH are proud to work in partnership with AEA to raise awareness and enable those who work in the sheltered housing and related care sectors recognise and understand what is happening and what action needs to be taken to be more effective in the prevention, detection and handling of elder abuse."
Currently between four to five per cent of people over 60 live in sheltered housing; this figure rises to 13% of those aged 80-84 and up to 19% of those aged 85 and over. Sheltered housing provides the support and independence to continue to live in the safe and secure knowledge that they have support workers and scheme managers on hand to assist them if and when the need arises.
Many support workers and scheme managers see older people on an almost daily basis; have built relationships of trust with them and are among the people most likely to recognise changes in the older person or their situation which might indicate all is not well. They are in a key position not only to recognise abuse and support action to protect vulnerable people by alerting health and social care agencies but also to empower older people to take measure to protect themselves.
The CSHS Code of Practice requires that organisations have clear policies and procedures relating to the Protection of Vulnerable Adults and that all staff have training in the implementation of these procedures as well as in the assessment of needs of and risks to vulnerable people and support planning to address these needs and risks. Sheltered housing and support providers must ensure that older people themselves are aware of what they can do to report concerns in relation to any forms of abuse or harassment and ensure that older people experiencing abuse are enabled and empowered to identify their experiences and take steps to access support to address it.
CSHS Commercial Manager, Carol Wardle, states that: "Protection from abuse is not just about policies and procedures to guide action when abuse is suspected or alleged. It must be part of an approach to the provision of support which challenges discrimination, promotes rights to independence, social inclusion, respect, dignity and active citizenship of older people."
CSHS is currently hosting a series of one-day seminars in partnership with Action on Elder Abuse to explore the significant role that sheltered and supported housing can play in reducing the risk of financial abuse. CSHS, ERoSH, AEA and PAVAUK are currently planning seminars aimed at Adult Protection Coordinators and housing managers to address barriers to effective multi-agency working to address elder abuse.
In addition, CSHS provides in-house day courses on Protection of Vulnerable People and Promoting Independence to enable housing and support providers recognise, handle and prevent abuse of older people. CSHS and ERoSH have produced a Good Practice Guide on Social Inclusion and Older People.
