The sooner the Health Service Executive (HSE) launches its planned awareness campaign concerning abuse of the elderly, the better. Experience from other countries would suggest the mistreatment of elderly people by family members or carers goes largely unreported here. And, according to Age Action Ireland, the formal identification of a problem is frequently sufficient to ensure that the behaviour of those involved undergoes change.
Publication of a report by the Courts Service, which catalogued a sharp rise in the number of barring and safety orders taken out by parents against adult children last year, has focused public attention on the problem. But those figures reflect extreme cases, where parents were in fear of being seriously assaulted or even killed. In the majority of domestic cases involving physical, psychological or financial abuse, elderly people are reluctant to take legal action in case they are subjected to further intimidation or may be sent to a nursing home.
Abuse of the elderly takes many forms and has become ingrained at many levels in our society. Property-related abuse, where relatives or family members compel an older person to sign over a house or a farm was, and probably still is, widespread. The behaviour of successive governments and health authorities which illegally deducted money for nursing home care from old age pensioners - and have still not repaid it - represents an aspect of that abuse. But a growing incidence of physical and psychological mistreatment of parents may reflect an increase in drug taking, along with rising property values, where adult children have been forced to live at home.
At times, official neglect can appear as wounding as psychological abuse. In spite of repeated commitments to community care, grants for housing alterations that would allow older people to live at home are not available in some areas. The scheme is part-funded by Government, but some local authorities have run out of money. Others apply a means test and have limited resources remaining. There is a need for uniformity of treatment so that fit and elderly people can live in dignity at home.
The HSE has employed 25 elder abuse officers and plans to recruit a further seven. Officers liaise with public health nurses and with healthcare workers in residential and day-care settings, as well as with the Garda, in their efforts to identify and minimise physical or psychological mistreatment. It is a monumental task for a tiny number of dedicated people. More resources are needed. Success of the HSE's planned autumn awareness campaign should encourage further investment in preventative action.