Elder abuse on the rise

THE abuse of older people is on the rise.

Senior Health Adviser at the Department of Ageing and Life Course, World Health Organisation (WHO), Alana Officer, reported that for the 141 million older people worldwide, this has serious individual and societal costs.

“We must do much more to prevent and respond to the increasing frequency of different forms of abuse.”

One in six older people experience some form of abuse, a figure higher than previously estimated and predicted to rise as populations age worldwide.

A new study, supported by WHO, has found that almost 16 per cent of people aged 60 years and older were subjected to either psychological abuse (11.6 per cent), financial abuse (6.8 per cent), neglect (4.2 per cent), physical abuse (2.6 per cent) or sexual abuse (0.9 per cent).

“Awareness about elder abuse, still largely a taboo topic, has started to increase across the world. It is defined as actions or lack of appropriate action which can cause harm or distress to an older person, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust.”

“Despite the frequency and the serious health consequences, elder abuse remains one of the least investigated types of violence in national surveys, and one of the least addressed in national plans to prevent violence,” Officer stressed.

By 2050 the number of people aged 60 and over will double to reach two billion globally, with the vast majority of older people living in low- and middle-income countries. If the proportion of elder abuse victims remains constant, the number of people affected will increase rapidly due to population ageing, growing to 320 million victims by 2050.

“Elder abuse is rarely discussed in policy circles, less prioritised for research and addressed by only a handful of organisations,” noted Dr. Etienne Krug, Director of the WHO Department for the Management of Non-communicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention.

“Governments must protect all people from violence. We must work to shed light on this important societal challenge, understand how best to prevent it, and help put in place the measures needed.” (TL)