There are more and more reports of elder abuse coming from the community and that’s a good thing, says a representative from the St. Albert Senior Citizens’ Club, one of the local agencies with experience dealing with the problem.
“That is encouraging and positive,” explained outreach co-ordinator Tara Rodrique. “I think it’s like the child abuse thing that nobody talked about it and nobody talked about it and nobody talked about it … and then everybody’s talking about it.”
Public awareness naturally brings about more reports, she said.
“That’s what we want to happen. It doesn’t sound good but we want to have more reports at this point because we want people to recognize that it’s wrong.”
According to statistics published in the Statistics Canada General Social Survey 1999 (the most recent to address the issue), approximately seven per cent of seniors who were interviewed reported that they’d experienced some form of emotional or financial abuse by an adult child, caregiver or spouse within the past five years.
Emotional abuse is the most frequently reported form of abuse, followed by financial. Almost two per cent of the respondents reported experiencing more than one form of abuse.
Rodrique says that, in St. Albert, she has seen more instances of financial abuse but emotional abuse is tied in with it. What she hasn’t seen, however, are seniors filing charges related to their abuse.
“Other family members will want to be charging that person sometimes. If the person is giving the money willingly, it’s not really a crime.”
Although the statistics are now more than a decade old, researchers estimate that approximately 23,000 older Albertans are currently affected. Since the average age of the province’s population is gradually increasing, social workers expect the number of incidents to rise as well, unless public awareness can somehow lead to prevention.
Rodrique expects boomers will be more assertive when they reach 65.
The St. Albert seniors’ working group has been trying to help bring more awareness to the community through free calendars and free information sessions. Ads featuring safety tips also run in the newspaper.
The city also has elder abuse guidelines for action in place to respond to citizens’ concerns. Many local senior serving organizations have level three responder training to assist people with their concerns.
To mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on Friday, the group is hosting Mayor Nolan Crouse for a proclamation at 10 a.m. at the seniors’ club.
For information on the working group, visit www.stalbert.ca/st-albert-seniors-working-group or call Rodrique at 780-459-0433.
