What we want
Half a million older people are believed to face abuse at any one time in the UK. It is a human right to live free from harm and to be treated with dignity.
What we are calling for
Our campaign to stop elder abuse is a long-term strategy. We have six objectives we believe will make this possible:
- Greater awareness.
- More and better training.
- Equal priority for elder abuse and child abuse.
- Effective regulation and inspection.
- Greater awareness in the legal profession.
- Support and empowerment of older people.
Greater awareness
We want increased awareness of the nature and scale of elder abuse and of what people should do if they suspect that an older person is being abused.
If people can recognise the signs of elder abuse, they can take action to stop it.
More and better training
We want all frontline staff who work with older people to be trained in how to detect cases of elder abuse and how to respond appropriately.
This will help increase early detection of abuse and ensure older people are protected.
Equal priority for elder abuse and child abuse
Elder abuse cases are not always dealt with as effectively as they should be. We want the issue of elder abuse to be taken seriously and for lessons to be learnt from the experience of experts in protecting other vulnerable groups.
Child protection legislation is widely understood to be serious, binding and rigorously enforceable. But adult protection systems are currently under-resourced and poorly enforced.
Effective regulation and inspection
We want strengthened national minimum standards for care; the integrated regulator for health and social care to place elder abuse at the top of its agenda; and The Healthcare Commission to oversee an annual “health check” on adult protection.
Best practice across the care sector should be delivered through more effective enforcement by regulators.
Greater awareness in the legal profession
We want all levels of the police and judiciary to be better equipped and trained to understand and act against elder abuse. This includes rank and file police, solicitors, the Crown Prosecution Service and probation staff.
Perpetrators of elder abuse are rarely pursued through the justice system and successful prosecutions are very rare. Elder abuse is not recorded separately within crime statistics so tracking it is also difficult.
More awareness will improve protection and accountability for older people and increase prosecutions for elder abuse offences.
Support and empowerment of older people
We want more advocacy services for older people; older people who manage their own care to be informed of their right to have potential carers checked; and increased awareness of the potential of the Human Rights Act.
Understanding what constitutes abuse, and the support available, will help more older people to speak out.
What is Help the Aged doing?
- Campaigning for change - lobbying government and other organisations to achieve progress on our policy objectives.
- Raising awareness through the media, community organisations, churches, Trade Unions and corporate partners.
- Providing training on how to recognise the signs of elder abuse for all Help the Aged staff who have a frontline role with older people.
- Producing information materials aimed at older people and the general public.
- Giving training to older people on money management, teaming up with Barclays for the Your Money Matters programme.
