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THE HSE HAS noted a 9 per cent increase in the number of elder abuse referrals it received last year.
A total of 2,302 referrals of elder abuse were received by the service in 2011, an increase of 9 per cent from 2010, according the HSE’s Elder Abuse Report 2011.
Of these, 1,867 involved allegations of a particular person involved in abuse, 429 cases were exclusively self-neglect, and six were related to organisational abuse.
Excluding cases related to self-neglect only , psychological abuse was the most common type of abuse reported at 35 per cent, followed by financial abuse (23 per cent), neglect (19 per cent) and physical abuse (12 per cent).
The main source of referral was the public health nursing service, while hospital or HSE staff and family also being major sources.
The highest referral rate concerned alleged victims aged 80 and over, with the 65 to 79 year age group apparently facing fewer incident of abuse.
Most of the alleged victims were female.
Those accused of perpetrating abuse tended to be related to the older person, with sons and daughters making up 44 per cent per cent of the alleged abusers.
A person’s partner or spouse was accused of perpetrating abuse in 18 per cent of cases, while another family member was accused in a further 18 per cent of cases. The HSE said that this breakdown is consistent with referrals from previous years.
Frank Murphy, Chair of the National Elder Abuse Steering Committee said the increase in referrals “indicates that people are becoming more aware of elder abuse”. Murphy said that significant efforts had been made by the HSE and its partners over recent years in trying to increase awareness of the issue.
HSE asks anyone who is being abused, or is concerned about abuse, to talk to someone they can trust or contact the HSE information line on 1850 24 1850.
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No Karla. An elderly person is a person who has lived a life complete with experiences & emotions & is to be treated with due respect. Elderly people are NOT to be confused with children who require discipline.your ignorance makes my blood boil.if an elderly person does not want to dress or change or in fact does want to go for a midnight stroll then u treat them as an adult with the respect they deserve & explain as best u can the position both u & they are in. If that fails u TRY AGAIN & AGAIN. You certainly DO NOT berate them like children!!!!!!
I dont see where I said one should berate them.
I take it then it is ok to let them sit in there own urine for hours on end. Because thats what they want even thought they will end up with sores.
Tell oh wise one is that what you would do? Let your mommy sit in soiled clothes because she had no intention of changing, it does happen and is referred to as self neglect 485 cases of elder abuse in 2010 were of self neglect, there are no guidelines in how to help and elder who is self neglecting. By the way 485 we’re out of 1800 cases reported. It’s very common and hard for their carers.
You should consider doing something different as caring for the elderly isn’t isn’t your strong point.
Not a hope, even though I’m on the elderly persons side. I dont really know any elderly people
So have no idea what caring for them entails. I don’t claim to know how to look after one, in fact in my first post I asked what exactly was elder abuse. No one seems to have an answer….
They just want to pick faults with my posts.
Forcefully dress a child,bribery,and “use a strong tone of voice”you mean yell at them.
Good god girl.
Ffs do you speak in monotone? There are various voice strengths, whispering, soft, normal, raised, very loud and shouting. These are at different decibels, a strong tone would increase the decibel a couple of notches higher than your normal voice. To shout you would need to be around 20 decibels louder.
I can only imagine what it’s like to look after an older person, which a child you can force them to get dressed, use a strong tone of voice, bribe them, tell them no tv, put them on the naughty step but with an elderly person you can’t, if they want to sit in their own urine and dont want to get dressed your damed if you force then to and your damed if you leave them sitting in it. So what exactly is a carer supposed to do? I have no idea, some elderly people are very stubborn, so my question what exactly is elder abuse? Not talking about the obvious like hitting them but the other stuff like what I mention above.
Karla elder abuse comes in many shapes and forms. not giving an older person a drink or putting just out of reach can be seen as a form of abuse . . . withholding money. shouting screaming hitting mental and physical abuse. yeah your right. you can kinda force a kid to do something but that also can be seen Aswan form of abuse too. there is fine line there
And I have no doubt it is hard for carers. Having had personal experience Karla I have no doubt AT ALL.
Yes, i agree, think thats one of the reasons carers for carers was set up.
Wow, never realised there were so many perfect people in Ireland. I must be such a failure.
Yes and I am of the firm belief that if people received the proper supports within an appropriate time frame then the levels of abuse would decrease dramatically. My experience Karla (it is not limited to 1 person nor 1 instance) is that people usually respond (if not to you then another carer,unfortunately this is where the government fail). I would not consider this abuse,at the least it is gentle persuasion, at the most firm persuasion/coercion by 2 or more people.Yes,obviously if there is a real risk then professional opinions need to be sought(I never claimed to be an expert) my issue is that elder abuse,when it does occur,can be very subtle & “easily” explained away by a person claiming to “know better”. The line may be fine but it IS there. It may be a result of a carer that needs to care 24/7,work full time & quite often care for their own family-again this is where the government fails. But I am of the firm belief that we cannot tolerate this-we cannot dismiss elderly people’s feelings & emotions easily. Sometimes saying “NO” is all we have left when our independence & health is failing & trying to empathise with this can make all the difference.
Thanks for that, that is all i really wanted to know,
Firm persuasion/coercion by 2 or more people is accepabtle when dealing with a combative /self neglecting elder.
*anything more than that is abuse?
Thank you for your honest answers, couldnt find anything on the net and i really wanted to know where the line was draw.
I’ve no doubt it does happen Karla-I read the article just like u. Like I said, you speak to the person & if they refuse you explain your position or leave it for 5 mins before you approach them again. Care of the elderly is taught this way. Or would u rather another? Sitting elderly people on the “naughty step”? It can be done. Without comparing a person that has lived a full life with a child. And no1 said perfect-the article itself shows care of the elderly is not perfect. I didn’t realise that people in Ireland didn’t want high standards for their parents/grandparents/relatives/friends when they need care
Ok, so you leave it for 5 mins and another and another after 3 hours they still wont budge and the carer has been nagging them a total of 36 times, well lets say 20 times but that in its self is mind boggling and abusive to continue to ask them, when all they want is to sit there maybe watch a bit of tv and have a snooze. Im not saying anyone is right or anyone is wrong, each elderly person is different. But what would your position be? would you them “your sitting in your own urine its going to cause an infection if we dont wash you and change you, will you come with me so i can help you” they say “NO” im fine i havent wet myself. this goes on for how long? 3 hours, 5 hours 8 hours then its bed time and they still wont change, do they sleep in their clothes?
Im not trying to pick faults with your post, im trying to understand what is acceptable and what is not!
Is it acceptable to leave a elderly person in soiled clothes for 24 hours because they dont want to change?
it should be a yes or no answer,
If yes, it is acceptable to leave them in soiled clothes for 24 hours, is it acceptable they stay in their soiled clothes for 2 days or 3 without being changed because they dont want to? How long is too long? and what action is taken when its deemed to long? or because they wish to stay in soiled clothes and because they are an adult and deserve respect for their wishes so they are left indeinatly in their soiled clothes until a time they wish to change, be that 3 weeks later?
If NO, what action is taken? since they wont listen to the care giver and will not agree to change or shower.
Like I said Karla,I don’t claim to be an expert, I do acknowledge there is a fine line. I just know that if the HSE were claiming an increase in child abuse or people with disabilities being abused the response would be very different & not, going back to your first point, labelling the abused as “stubborn”.
Well that’s the terrible 2s for you. A strong tone of voice is not yelling as a soft tone is not whispering. Yelling at an old person is not on, neither is yelling at kids. an adult can do what the he’ll they like a child can’t. I would say it would be harder to care for an adult than a child. The child has to do as the parent says otherwise they are disciplined. You can’t discipline an elderly person because they have every right to do what they want when they want. where do you draw the line, when they insist on going for a midnight walk and it’s too dangerous for them you cant send them to bed like you would a child. You try to dress and elderly person for bed and they refuse you cant grab their arm and put their arm in the sleeve if they are holding their arms to their chest even though it’s bed time and you can’t let them sleep in their clothes as that in neglect, to me there seems to be a fine line between caring for an elderly person and neglect/abuse both psychological and physical.
have your say