New Zealand : Drug P Factor in Elder Abuse  

By Eileen Goodwin, the Christchurch Star  

April 16, 2004

Elder abuse is on the rise in Canterbury , with the latest figures showing a worrying trend of older people being targeted for their money.  

Data collated by Age Concern reveals many of the cases involve elderly being taken advantage of by family members who have drug, alcohol and gambling problems.  

Figures released to the Christchurch Star yesterday show that last year there was a 65 percent increase in elder abuse cases from 2002.  

New Zealand-wide elder abuse figures will be released on Monday.  

In Canterbury there was 107 incidents reported to Age Concern compared with 65 in 2002, but chief executive Andrew Dickerson believed the figures were only the "tip of the iceberg".  

Dickerson believed the increase mirrored the growing alcohol, drug and gambling problem in the community. He said that five of the cases related to people involved with pure methampetamine, or P, a drug police say is reaching epidemic proportions and impacting on the general community.  

"P is a very new and disturbing development," he said.  

Dickerson said a large number of cases also involved fraud or theft. In the last month Age Concern had dealt with:  

# An elderly person whose pension was taken via a joint bank account with the person's son.  

# Theft of medication by an elderly person's neighbour.  

# Abuse of access to an elderly person's assets via a power-of-attorney status.

An encouraging sign, Dickerson said, was the increase of reporting amongst those including bank tellers, supermarket staff, taxi drivers and neighbours.  

This was evidence of the rising profile in the general community of elder abuse.  

Dickerson said there was a need for a greater focus from government agencies to deal with the problem. He also wants the way elder abuse statistics are gathered improved.  

He wants a national database for which all agencies dealing with the elderly can provide statistics and information.  

It could be similar to that in place for child abuse cases so agencies could access information on the problem.  

There should also be mandatory reporting of elder abuse for community agencies and health authorities, he said.  

A "zero tolerance" approach to cases of abuse involving the elderly was needed.  

"Elder abuse is where other types of abuse were about 20 years ago," he said.

The Canterbury increase reflected national figures to be released on Monday. Age Concern New Zealand chief executive Garth Taylor, who was in Christchurch yesterday for the city's gerontology conference on aging, said the figures showed an overall increase in reported cases.  

This had been "significant" in cases involving financial abuse, particularly those in which victims had signed over power-of-attorney to the perpetrators.  

Community relations officer at the Christchurch police, Sergeant Robin Scott, said older people were often reluctant to complain about abuse because it occurred mainly within families.  

They may not wish to cause trouble, or may be fearful of being left alone completely by family members they depended upon if they spoke out.  

The police did not have the time to collect data specifically on elder abuse, Scott said.  

However, Nigel Millar, the chief medical officer for the Canterbury District Health Board, said compiling such a database could be ineffective or even dangerous.  

It was not appropriate to treat elder abuse in the same way as child abuse because the elderly were adults capable of making decisions for themselves, he said.  

"It has a big brother feel to it," he said.  

Millar, who is also a geriatrician, said part of the problem came from those around the elderly making decisions for them, leading to an erosion of basic human rights.