Of the 27 elder abuse cases reported to Age Concern during the period, 48.6% were psychologically related, 30.5% were financially related and 4.8% were physically related.
Age Concern defines elder abuse as “an act, repeated act or an act of omission that causes harm or distress to an elderly person who is in a relationship of trust”.
Toni Velenski, an elder abuse service provider, who previously worked with the police, admitted that elder abuse was rarely reported.
“I can count on one hand how many elderly victims have been reported during my time with the police,” Ms Velenski said.
The barriers included a lack of knowledge of appropriate elderly support.
“Sometimes they have [older adults] not know that they are victims of abuse.”
A report from the New Zealand Bureau of Elder Abuse and Neglect said abuse ranged from psychological, financial, physical, sexual and institutional abuse to neglect.
Abuse can seem harmless, such as taking $20 out of a parent’s wallet for personal groceries without asking, but can extend to borrowing a large amount for a home deposit and not paying it back.
The report identified “impatience with legacies” as a factor behind financial abuse.
On June 15, 11 projects were allocated government funding in a preventive effort.
Senior Citizen Ayesha Verrall said the Elder Abuse Prevention Fund supported programs to support diverse groups in the elderly population.
“Unfortunately, one in ten people experience elder abuse in New Zealand – that’s just unacceptable,” said Dr. verrall.
“We need to find different ways to prevent abuse. With this additional funding, we can try innovative approaches to prevent elder abuse.”
The fund was allocated $250,000 to be awarded to the 11 projects.
This is in addition to the $6.3 million announced in the 2022 budget for new prevention initiatives for the elderly.
University of Otago Associate Prof Yoram Barak’s research project, BMC Geriatrics, is one of 11 to receive funding from the Elder Abuse Prevention Fund.
The study analyzed seven years of International Resident Assessment Instrument (interRAI-CH) data from across the Southern District Health Board area – the current assessment tool used to identify elder abuse.
By changing the criteria within the assessments, it was found that the identification of persons at risk could increase from 2.6% to 4.8%.
Prof Barak said elder abuse went largely unnoticed and under-reported.
“Existing tools for assessing elder abuse are not adequate and efforts to improve them are crucial.”
† Aspen Bruce