World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2008

15th June 2008

Next week Enfield Council marks World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2008 with a number of public information stalls, highlighting that sadly older people do suffer abuse in the community.

The stalls will have information to take away, and professionals on standby to talk in confidence about the subject of elder abuse, how to recognise it, what to do if you suspect it, and how to prevent it happening in the first place.

The stalls will all be held between 10.00am till 2.00pm on:

Monday 9th June 2008

Palace Exchange Shopping Centre, Enfield Town, near Marks & Spencer

Wednesday 11th June 2008

Edmonton Green Shopping Centre, North Mall Square, near Boots / Tesco

Friday 13th June 2008

Co-op Supermarket, 654-670 Hertford Road, Enfield (opposite Ordnance Rd Library)

The abuse of older people is more common than many people think, it often goes unreported and is frequently perpetrated by someone known by the victim.

There are many different types of abuse, these include; financial and material, physical, emotional and psychological, sexual, neglect, discriminatory and institutional.

The UK Study of Abuse and Neglect, which reported in June 2007, and was commissioned by Comic Relief and the Department of Health surveyed those aged 66 years and over who lived in private accommodation (i.e. no-one in residential or nursing care). They found:

• 4% of the respondents reported that they felt they had been mistreated, either abused or neglected, this would equate to 342,000 of older people (aged 66 and over) in the UK;

• 2.6% of the respondents reported that they felt they had been mistreated, either abused or neglected by someone in a position of trust, this would equate to 227,000 of older people (aged 66 or over) in the UK;

Keezia Obi, Safeguarding Adults Lead said “Every day an older person somewhere suffers some kind of abuse, usually from someone they know.

“In Enfield the most common type of abuse reported is financial / material and physical abuse.

“If you suspect someone is being abused in anyway, or you yourself are being harmed it’s so important to come forward and report it. We understand you might be frightened to do so, or if you are elderly you might rely on your abuser in some way, but you must get help.

“There are professionals that are trained to help you.

“If you just want to find out more please come along to one of our information stalls where there is no obligation advice. But whatever you do, don’t suffer in silence.”

If you suspect someone is being abused call Enfield Council on 020 8379 1000.

This document was last updated on 2008-06-03 11:43:32 published by the Communications team. Document Reference:LBE_132822