Additional funding, increased reporting for Elder Abuse and Neglect services

The Government has announced $170,000 of contestable funding for two new specialist Elder Abuse and Neglect Prevention (EANP). These will be in Wairoa and Rotorua (including Kawerau).

The announcement was made during the Age Concern's national conference held in Wellington. The conference theme of 'engagement' aimed to address interactions between government policy, the health sector and older people.

Currently, the Government provides $1.6 million a year to fund 24 EANP services nationally. Minister Jo Goodhew said "Raising awareness of elder abuse and neglect is one of my top priorities as the Minister for Senior Citizens. As a Government, we want an environment where older people can live life as healthy, independent, connected and respected members of our communities."

Age Concern is contracted by government provide national training and coordination and deliver 19 of the 24 services. More than 2000 cases of suspected abuse are referred to Age Concern nationally every year.

Agencies around New Zealand have noted increases in reporting by family members and elderly people themselves, with financial and psychological abuse reported as primary problems. National Age Concern figures show reported referrals of financial elder abuse almost doubled from 1100 in the 2010/2011 financial year to about 2000 in 2012/13.

Age Concern said "Elder abuse is fuelled by ageist attitudes and lack of respect for older people. We can improve the care of older people in the community by valuing them and treating them with dignity and respect, by improving social connections for older people and supplying information and support to family members who are providing elder care."

A symposium held by Midcentral District Health Board in March also brought together 250 clinicians and support workers from across the district to discuss issues affecting older people, including elder abuse. Speakers emphasised the trauma older adults experience from physical, emotional and sexual abuse. The symposium aimed to educate the wider community about reporting elder abuse.

More information on Elder Abuse and Neglect and Age Concern services is available on the Age Concern website and Facebook.

Media:

Aged to get more funding - Cunliffe, NZ Herald, 09.04.2014

Politicians agree on ageing with dignity and respect, 08.04.2014

$170,000 to expand elder abuse services, Beehive, 08.04.2014

More funding for elder abuse services, 3 News, 08.04.2014

Grey Power calls for jail in neglect case, NZ Herald, 06.04.2014

Christchurch man jailed for elder abuse, NewsTalkZB, 04.04.2014

Neglect case: Family prevented from seeing gran, NZ Herald, 03.04.2014

Police go after more cases of elder abuse, NewsTalkZB, 03.04.2014

Do not turn a blind eye to elder abuse and neglect - Age Concern, Voxy, 02.04.2014

Cases of elder abuse increasing, Otago Daily Times, 26.03.2014

Event shines light on issues of older people, Voxy, 20.03.2014

More abused old folk seek help, Stuff, 20.02.2014

 Ripping off the elderly on rise, The Press, 15.02.2014

Image: Family C Hands, by tommie milacci photography. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).