Older people’s experiences of mistreatment and abuse.

Abstract

The number of older people who are at risk of
\nmistreatment and abuse is likely to grow as the
\nproportion of older people in the population continues
\nto increase. Prevalence evidence indicates that
\napproximately 2.2 per cent of older people in Ireland
\nhave been abused in the previous twelve months
\n(Naughton et al. 2012). Elder abuse is becoming
\nincreasingly recognised as a problem that needs to be
\naddressed. Attention was first drawn to this issue in
\nIreland when the National Council on Ageing and Older
\nPeople (NCAOP) published Abuse, Neglect and
\nMistreatment: An Exploratory Study (O’Loughlin and
\nDuggan 1998). Since this publication, a number of
\ndevelopments have taken place in response to the issue. In
\n2002, a seminal policy document was published by the
\nWorking Group on Elder Abuse. Entitled Protecting our
\nFuture, it proposed a framework of how best to address
\nelder abuse. In response to this policy document, dedicated
\nelder abuse services were established by the Health Service
\nExecutive (HSE) in 2007. This service included dedicated
\nofficers for the protection of older people, with responsibility
\nfor training and policy development, and senior case
\nworkers (SCWs), social workers with responsibility for
\nassessing and managing suspected cases of elder abuse. In
\naddition to this specialised service, the HSE funded the
\nestablishment of the National Centre for the Protection of
\nOlder People (NCPOP) to undertake a programme of
\nresearch into elder abuse.