|
|
Elderly Abuse Rife in Tassie
By Sue Neales, The Mercury
Tasmania, Australia
July 18, 2005
A hidden epidemic of abuse of the elderly is occurring in Tasmania with as many as 12,000 Tasmanians aged over 65 mistreated by relatives and carers each year.
An international conference on ageing and disability which starts today in Hobart will be told this is one of the most disturbing problems the nation faces.
Australian Elder Abuse Prevention Association executive director Lillian Jeter estimates that between 3000 and 12,000 elderly Tasmanians are abused each year, usually by their partners or by adult children who are left caring for their parents as they age.
Elder abuse can be violent, sexual or psychological abuse, neglect or financial exploitation.
"This is a shocking problem that Tasmania, like other states in Australia, will be hearing a lot more about in the coming decades as the population ages, people live longer and the number of available beds in nursing homes and hospitals declines," Ms Jeter said yesterday.
"As aged services prove insufficient, more and more family members will find their independence curtailed as they suddenly have to care for an aged parent.
"The reality is that some won't be able to cope."
Ms Jeter, who when a policewoman in the US state of South Carolina in 1985 made the first arrest there for elder abuse and neglect, believes the problem will only be tackled when Australian society stops ignoring it.
"It's about changing the culture that is prepared to ignore the likely abuse of an elderly neighbour or acquaintance by their family because they don't want to get involved or cause a stir," she said.
"Yet if this was a young child that was being mistreated, we would not tolerate it and would immediately alert the authorities. Why are older people any different or any less deserving of society's protection?"
Case studies show that the great majority of abusers of the elderly are close family members, such as spouses or adult children. At other times, abuse and neglect can occur in institutions and nursing homes.
Incidents reported have included malnourished elderly people left lying in urine-soaked beds for days, relatives taking control of aged parents' finances and depriving them of funds, and elderly parents locked away in their homes, sometimes drugged or without clothes and shoes so that they cannot flee and complain about mistreatment.
Ms Jeter is determined to see elder abuse covered by mandatory reporting laws which would oblige doctors, community workers and health professionals to report any suspicions they might have about older people at risk of harm or neglect.
Secondly, she wants more statistics gathered nationally so the severity of elder abuse can be more accurately assessed.
"Culturally there is such a bias, ageism, against older people today," Ms Jeter said.
"Here are some of our most frail and vulnerable people being neglected, isolated and abused, yet so many outsiders refuse to intervene because they seem to think that these people have lived their lives or are dying anyway, so why worry?"
The Australian Council for the Rehabilitation of Disabled is holding its conference on ageing and disability at the Hotel Grand Chancellor today, tomorrow and on Wednesday.
Eminent speakers include international Down syndrome specialist Professor Roy Brown from the University of Calgary, Canada, and Rosemary Crossley, director of the Melbourne DEAL Centre which is dedicated to helping disabled people who cannot speak to communicate.
Anne Macdonald, a profoundly disabled woman Ms Crossley realised was "trapped within her body" in a Melbourne institution more than 30 years ago -- and whom she taught to communicate -- will present a paper to the conference on Wednesday, using her alphabet board.
|
|
