World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is commemorated each year on June 15th to highlight elder abuse. Elder abuse is any act that causes harm to an older person and is carried out by someone they know and trust, such as a family member, a helper or friend.
There are different types of violence:
In many parts of the world, elder abuse occurs with little recognition or response. It is a global social issue that affects the health, well-being, independence, and human rights of millions of older people worldwide and an issue that deserves the attention of all in the community.
These abuses occur everywhere, in the street, in their homes, but more and more in nursing homes (ehpad/retirement homes...). However, these are specialized places, where the elderly should feel confident and above all respected. But this is not always the case. Indeed, if the covid has had a positive effect, it is to have shown us the failings of the ehpad.
It is important to note that institutional abuse in EHPAD can be:
Perpetrators of institutional abuse in EHPAD can be: carers, doctors and other staff, but also other residents.
To really understand what institutional abuse is, it is necessary to point out that much abuse and neglect is caused by poor working conditions, such as stress, overwork, understaffing or low pay.
In residential institutions, too, there are factors that can cause unintentional elder abuse, such as poorly trained care staff. Overwork, burnout or lack of motivation of staff. The existence of dysfunctions within the team or services in charge of daily care (lack of dialogue...). Problems of financial management and human resources within the institution...
This explains why so much of this institutional abuse is neither conscious nor voluntary.
If you have witnessed abuse, you can:
But above all, we must listen to the elderly and not judge them.
Remember that we are all getting older and one day we will be those old people.
So we have to do something about it to make it change.
There are different types of violence:
- Material or financial: pressuring to change a will, stealing, depriving of money...
- Psychological: humiliating, threatening, intimidating, manipulating, ignoring, rejecting, isolating, scaring…
- Sexual: harassing, touching the body without consent...
- Physical: hitting, pushing, depriving of comfort or safety or of care or medication…
- Violation of rights: imposing medical treatment, not respecting privacy, not helping a person in distress…
- Ageism: excluding on the basis of age, treating an older person like a child…
In many parts of the world, elder abuse occurs with little recognition or response. It is a global social issue that affects the health, well-being, independence, and human rights of millions of older people worldwide and an issue that deserves the attention of all in the community.
These abuses occur everywhere, in the street, in their homes, but more and more in nursing homes (ehpad/retirement homes...). However, these are specialized places, where the elderly should feel confident and above all respected. But this is not always the case. Indeed, if the covid has had a positive effect, it is to have shown us the failings of the ehpad.
It is important to note that institutional abuse in EHPAD can be:
- Voluntary or involuntary
- Be conscious or unconscious (both for the perpetrator and the victim).
Perpetrators of institutional abuse in EHPAD can be: carers, doctors and other staff, but also other residents.
To really understand what institutional abuse is, it is necessary to point out that much abuse and neglect is caused by poor working conditions, such as stress, overwork, understaffing or low pay.
In residential institutions, too, there are factors that can cause unintentional elder abuse, such as poorly trained care staff. Overwork, burnout or lack of motivation of staff. The existence of dysfunctions within the team or services in charge of daily care (lack of dialogue...). Problems of financial management and human resources within the institution...
This explains why so much of this institutional abuse is neither conscious nor voluntary.
If you have witnessed abuse, you can:
- Notify the management of the establishment.
- Report the event to the Regional Health Agency to which the establishment belongs.
But above all, we must listen to the elderly and not judge them.
Remember that we are all getting older and one day we will be those old people.
So we have to do something about it to make it change.
ZOÉ PORTIÉ
Zoé is a French volunteer involved in the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
