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About 500
tackle issue at conference. Writer and broadcaster Jeanette Bertrand
shares her experiences with discrimination The world's population is aging faster than before, and so are abuse and neglect of the elderly, the head of the World Health Organization's Aging and Health Program told a Montreal conference on elder abuse yesterday. "The
industrialized countries got rich before they got old," Dr. Alexandre
Kalache said. "The developing countries are getting old before they
get rich. "There
are more old people in the world, and fewer and fewer younger people to
provide care for them. So, rich or poor, we are experiencing growing
world-wide intolerance, discrimination, neglect, and verbal and physical
abuse of the elderly." Before
moving to the WHO in Geneva seven years ago, Kalache set up the
Epidemiology of Aging Unit at the London School of Hygiene. Similar units
have been established in other countries. "It
took five generations before the life expectancy of the world's population
over the age of 65 doubled from seven to 14 per cent, and only one
generation for it to double again," he said. "So
we have a shorter period of time to minimize and address the problems
through long-term care." About
500 delegates are registered for the two-day conference, designed to curb
abuse of the elderly. Seniors,
doctors, lawyers and social workers have been brought together to share
knowledge and practices and to set up a network to help the elderly. "Elder
abuse is a very complex issue. We're working on a mechanism of detection,
prevention and intervention," conference co-chairperson Maxine
Lithwick, a Montreal social worker at the René Cassin CLSC in Notre Dame
de Grâce, told The Gazette. "We
live in a very ageist society. When we talk of abuse we have to include
ageism, which is like racism against the elderly, prejudice against the
elderly." Quebec
writer and broadcaster Jeanette Bertrand, 78, told a conference seminar
that she has not been spared from discrimination. Bertrand
described it as a subtle rejection of many professional projects she
proposes. "It
is a subtle no," she said, and she believes it is because younger
people think she is too old for the job. "You
can feel it. You can sense the reason," she said. According
to statistics compiled by the Réseau québécois pour contrer les abus
envers les aînés, an organization that studies abuse of the elderly,
between five and 10 per cent of Quebec's seniors - from 60,000 to 120,000
people - have been victims of some form of abuse. In
almost 70 per cent of cases, a family member assaulted or exploited the
elderly person. "Seniors
who are abused die younger than those who have normal age-related
diseases," Lithwick said. "We
have to help educate seniors and work with the population to stop such
abuse." For
more information, call the Elder Abuse information line, (514) 489-2287.
ahustak@thegazette.canwest.com
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
