MORE THAN 18,000 older people have experienced some form of abuse or neglect since they turned 65, the first Irish study on the prevalence of elder abuse has indicated.
The findings of the National Study of Elder Abuse and Neglectfound that over 10,000 people aged over 65 had experienced some form of abuse or neglect in the past 12 months, with adult children the most likely perpetrators.
The study, carried out by the UCD-based National Centre for the Protection of older people, interviewed 2,021 people over 65. It then extrapolated the percentage of older people who had experienced abuse to the general population.
Financial abuse was the most commonly reported mistreatment, experienced by 1.3 per cent of respondents, followed by psychological abuse (1.2 per cent), physical abuse (0.5 per cent) and neglect (0.3 per cent). Sexual abuse was the least common form of abuse at 0.05 per cent.
Those aged between 70 and 79 and those over 80 were twice as likely to experience abuse as those aged 65 to 69. Women were more likely to have experienced mistreatment. However, after the age of 80 the risk levelled out between the sexes, at which stage financial abuse was the biggest risk.
Those with lower levels of education, lower socio-economic status and lower incomes were most vulnerable, with people living on less than €220 a week reporting the highest levels of mistreatment.
Increased levels of abuse and neglect were also related to declining health. Those with below average physical health were three times more likely to experience mistreatment, increasing to six times as many among those with below average mental health.
Over one-third of those who experienced abuse or neglect did not report it.
Half of those who experienced mistreatment identified an adult child as the perpetrator. Just under one-quarter identified other relatives, while one in five experienced abuse or neglect by their partner or spouse.
The highest levels of mistreatment (3.4 per cent) occurred in intergenerational households or complex household structures where the older person shared the house with an adult child and their family or other relatives.
When the study was broadened to include any episode of abuse or neglect experienced since a person turned 65, the percentage of those experiencing mistreatment doubled to 4 per cent, indicating that up to 18,764 older people have experienced abuse or neglect when applied to the general population.
When the definition of those who experienced mistreatment in the past 12 months was widened to include neighbours and acquaintances this group made up 26 per cent of perpetrators.
The further inclusion of strangers increased the prevalence of mistreatment to 3 per cent. However, in widening the definition to include neighbours, acquaintances and strangers, older people were still most likely to experience abuse by those closest to them.
Some 51 per cent of perpetrators were unemployed, 19 per cent abused alcohol, and in 37 per cent of cases the older person lived with the perpetrator.
Lead researcher Dr Corina Naughton said the complexity of elder abuse meant there was no simple solution. “One of the most important steps in preventing elder abuse is increased awareness among older people themselves, their families and the wider public.
“The responsibility for tackling elder abuse and neglect is shared across the whole of society; we all have a right to expect a safe and secure future in older age.”
Launching the report findings yesterday, Minister of State for older people Áine Brady commended the “people behind the numbers” for sharing their story, which would assist in developing the service against elder abuse.
“Elder abuse is a societal as distinct from a health problem, and therefore requires us, as a civic society, to recognise elder abuse and to report it if we come across it,” she said, adding that there had been an increase in referrals to the HSE’s elder abuse service from 1,840 in 2008 to 1,870 in 2009.
The study was funded by the HSE.
THE ISSUES BY THE NUMBERS
The World Health Organisation defines elder abuse as "a single or repeated act of or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person or violates their human and civil rights"
18,764- the number of people who have experienced any incident of abuse or neglect since turning 65, according to the study
10,201- the number of people over the age of 65 who have experienced elder abuse in the past 12 months
The highest levels of abuse were reported by men aged
80and over and by women in the
70 to 79age group
Those aged between 70 and 79 and those over the age of 80 were twice as likely to experience elder abuse than those aged 65 to 69
25 per centof those who experienced abuse in the past six months experienced more than one type of abuse while 14 per cent experienced three or more types of abuse.
50 per centof perpetrators of elder abuse or neglect were an adult child of the victim
Those living on less than
€220 per weekreported the highest levels of mistreatment.
Older people with below average mental health were six times more likely to report abuse or neglect.
Over
33 per centof those who experienced mistreatment did not report the abuse or neglect to anyone.
1,870- the number of referrals to the HSE's elder abuse programme in 2009
PARAMETERS AND DEFINITIONS
The National Study of Elder Abuse and Neglect focused on five forms of elder abuse:
Physical abuseincluding being threatened or hit with an object, slapped, kicked, being restrained or denied access to equipment such as a walking or hearing aid.
Psychological abuseincluding being insulted, excluded, undermined or prevented from seeing people the older person cares about such as grandchildren.
Financial abuseincluding instances in which money or possessions were stolen or the person was forced to sign over property.
Sexual abusedefined as being talked to or touched in a sexual way.
Neglectincluding the refusal or failure of a carer to help with activities of daily living such as shopping, washing or dressing.
Abuserefers to physical, sexual, financial and psychological abuse while mistreatment also includes neglect.
The 12-month prevalence study defined physical, financial or sexual abuse as one or more incidents while psychological abuse and neglect were categorised as consisting of 10 or more incidents, while the prevalence study of mistreatment since an older person turned 65 covered any incident of abuse. The study involved 2,021 people over the age of 65 being interviewed face-to-face in their homes between April and May 2010.
The average age of respondents was 74 years; 37 per cent lived in rural locations; just over 20 per cent lived in Dublin city or county while the rest reside in small, medium or large urban settings.
Over 40 per cent lived alone, approximately 36 per cent lived with a spouse or partner and the remaining 20 per cent lived in intergenerational households or complex household structures where the older person shared the house with an adult child and their family or other relatives.