Research

TORONTO, ONTARIO, JUNE 15, 2010—The Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State (Seniors), today pledged the Government’s support in the fight against elder abuse at the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day conference in Toronto.

“The Government of Canada is committed to helping provide Canadians with the knowledge and resources needed to identify and mobilize our society against elder abuse,” said Minister of State Ablonczy.

It is estimated that between 4 and 10 per cent of Canadian seniors experience some kind of abuse. Mistreatment can take a variety of forms, including financial, physical or psychological abuse, as well as neglect.

Coinciding with the fifth annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, Minister of State Ablonczy announced funding of almost $1 million for six Federal Elder Abuse Initiative projects. These projects will help national organizations to develop and disseminate elder abuse awareness materials for frontline workers, giving them the tools needed to identify and respond to elder abuse.

“Any form of abuse is unacceptable and should not be tolerated. We need to create an environment where people will take action against this serious issue,” said Minister of State Ablonczy. “We need to give seniors and other Canadians the information they need to raise awareness, stand up and take action. More importantly, we need to empower seniors to speak up individually and collectively.”

Many seniors do not report abuse because they feel isolated and are afraid to speak out. As a result, this problem remains largely hidden. In a recent survey, 96 per cent of Canadians felt that most abuse experienced by older adults is hidden or goes undetected.

In 2009, the Government of Canada launched a national elder abuse awareness advertising campaign called Elder Abuse – It’s Time to Face the Reality. The awareness campaign, scheduled to run again in October, includes television, print and Web components aimed at raising awareness of elder abuse.

For more information on the Government of Canada’s commitments regarding seniors, including elder abuse awareness initiatives, visit www.seniors.gc.ca.

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This news release is available in alternative formats upon request.

For further information (media only):

Alayne Crawford
Senior Communications Advisor
Office of Minister of State Ablonczy
613-960-8717

Media Relations Office
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
819-994-5559

Backgrounder

Budget 2008 committed $13 million over three years to help seniors and others recognize the signs and symptoms of elder abuse, and to provide information on available support. As part of this commitment, the Government of Canada, through the Federal Elder Abuse Initiative, launched a national elder abuse awareness advertising campaign in 2009, called Elder Abuse – It’s Time to Face the Reality. The awareness campaign included television, print and Web components aimed at encouraging Canadians to take action towards preventing elder abuse.

A call for proposals under the Federal Elder Abuse Initiative was also open for six weeks in the summer of 2009. The call invited professional associations to apply for funding to adapt, customize and disseminate elder abuse materials for use throughout their organizations. The following projects are receiving funding:

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was first declared by the World Health Organization and the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse to “reflect the need for people to understand what abuse and neglect of older adults is and how it can be prevented.”

The first World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York City in 2006.

Elder Abuse Defined

The World Health Organization defines elder abuse as “a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within a relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person.” Abuse can be physical, financial, psychological or sexual. Neglect may also be considered abuse.

For more information on the Government of Canada’s elder abuse initiatives, visit www.seniors.gc.ca or call 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232). People using a teletypewriter device (TTY), can call 1-800-926-9105.

The Public Health Agency of Canada recently released the February 2010 Elder Abuse E-Bulletin.

This edition of the Elder Abuse E-Bulletin focuses on elder abuse screening and assessment. The abuse and neglect of older adults is a serious and prevalent problem that is often not readily identified by service providers, community or family members. This e-bulletin provides an overview of screening and assessment issues and highlights new research and tools that aim to increase elder abuse detection, intervention and prevention.

Also included in the Bulletin are New Developments and Promising Approaches; Updates from Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments; a Resource Corner; Key Dates and Events; and current Research.

The Elder Abuse E-Bulletin can be viewed online at http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ea-ma/EB/eb-Feb-2010-eng.php or email ncfv-cnivf@phac-aspc.gc.ca for assistance.

The next Elder Abuse E-bulletin in June 2010 will focus on using social media in elder abuse prevention.

The Elder Abuse E-bulletin is a quarterly e-newsletter for those interested in addressing and preventing the abuse of older adults in Canada. It is produced by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), as part of its role under the Government of Canadas Federal Elder Abuse Initiative (FEAI).

For more information on the Government of Canada’s elder abuse initiatives, visit seniors.gc.ca or call 1-800-O-Canada (1-800-622-6232). For people using a teletypewriter device (TTY), call 1-800-926-9105.

CALGARY, ALBERTA, February 11, 2010—To raise awareness of the abuse of older adults in Canada, the Government of Canada has approved funding for 16 projects through the Elder Abuse Awareness component of its New Horizons for Seniors Program.

The Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State (Seniors), made the announcement today in Calgary on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.

“Our government is protecting seniors by fighting elder abuse in all its forms, from physical abuse to financial and emotional abuse,” said Minister of State Ablonczy. “These projects will support programs and activities across Canada that increase awareness of elder abuse while improving quality of life, as well as safety and security, for seniors.”

Today’s announcement represents an investment of more than $1.5 million to prevent abuse against older adults across the country.

“Our government takes the fight against elder abuse very seriously,” said Minister of State Ablonczy. “We want everyone to know that it cannot and will not be tolerated, and that help is available. Seniors deserve to live with dignity and respect, and we as a government are committed to help ensure that their quality of life is not diminished by abuse of any kind.”

The announcement was made at the office of the Calgary Chinese Elderly Citizens’ Association, which received funding for its project called Hidden in the Cultural Fabric – Elder Abuse and Neglect in Ethno-cultural Communities in Alberta. This project will help older ethno-cultural Albertans increase their knowledge and understanding of elder abuse and neglect to develop their own solutions to the issues that impact them the most.

“In Alberta, there has been very little study on elder abuse in ethno-cultural communities,” said Dr. Daniel W. L. Lai, Professor and Associate Dean (Research and Partnerships), Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary. “This project will be the first study undertaken which specifically explores and encompasses the needs of ethno-cultural older adults related to elder abuse and neglect.”

The projects announced today fall under the Elder Abuse Awareness component of the New Horizons for Seniors Program, which supports national and regional projects. With the two other components of the New Horizons for Seniors Program—Community Participation and Leadership and Capital Assistance—the overall budget of the Program is now $35 million per year.

Since its beginning, the New Horizons for Seniors Program has funded over 5,500 projects across Canada, helping seniors to use their leadership, energy and skills to benefit our communities. For more information about the Program, please visit www.hrsdc.gc.ca/seniors.

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This news release is available in alternative formats upon request.

For further information (media only):

Michelle Bakos
Press Secretary
Office of Minister Finley
819-994-2482

Media Relations Office
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
819-994-5559

Backgrounder

New Horizons for Seniors Program

Across Canada, the New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) helps to ensure that seniors are able to actively contribute to and benefit from the quality of life in their communities. The total budget for the NHSP is $35 million per year.

The Program offers three types of funding to organizations:

1. Community Participation and Leadership funding (up to $25,000 in funding): this funding supports community-based projects across Canada. The projects encourage seniors to continue to play an important role in their communities by helping those in need, providing leadership, and sharing their knowledge and skills with others.

2. Capital Assistance funding (up to $25,000 in funding): this funding helps non?profit organizations that need to upgrade facilities or equipment used for existing seniors’ programs and activities. It enables seniors to continue to lead active lives by participating in existing programs and activities in their communities.

3. Elder Abuse Awareness funding (up to $250,000 in funding annually over a maximum of three years): this funding helps non-profit organizations and coalitions raise awareness of the abuse of older adults on a national or regional level. Through this funding, new educational and awareness resources about elder abuse will be available to improve quality of life, safety and security for seniors.

Gender-based analyses and considerations within policies, programs and practices related to elder abuse are of central importance to the Federal Elder Abuse Initiative (FEAI). As a key partner of the FEAI, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) completed a contextual gender-based analysis (GBA) of elder abuse in Canada. It includes guidelines for creating and evaluating bias-free, gender- and culturally-relevant policies and practices¹ to respond more effectively to the needs of both older men and women in situations of abuse.

In her research paper, "Elder Abuse in Canada: A Gender-Based Analysis", commissioned by PHAC’s Division of Aging and Seniors (DAS) under the FEAI, Peggy Edwards selected eight gender dimensions for examination: incidence and prevalence; characteristics of victims and perpetrators; effects on health; feminization of aging and care; factors that precipitate or prevent elder abuse; screening and diagnosis; programs and interventions; and, legislation and protective services. Ms. Edwards explored each in terms of known and unknown factors as they relate to the determinants of health in order to determine whether men and women are as likely to benefit from current policies, programs and legislation.

Despite numerous challenges, which included a significant lack of available data combining age, sex and diversity, a number of key findings emerged to inform the public health component of the FEAI in the development of tools and resources for public health practitioners. For example, many current elder abuse screening and assessment tools are based on research that has a relative scarcity of information about older mens experiences of abuse. These instruments also generally do not account for the fact that older women and men may differ in their tendency to report abuse and in how they interpret questions about abuse.

Another important aspect of the paper was the inclusion of guidelines for creating and evaluating bias-free, gender- and culturally-relevant policies and practices based on access, inclusion and benefits. The proposed template also incorporated key principles from The BIAS FREE Framework developed by M.A Burke and M. Eichler, the gender-based guidelines recommended by Status of Women Canada and Health Canada, as well as the Native Women’s Association of Canada’s policy paper on Culturally Relevant Gender-Based Analysis.

For more information or to obtain a copy of the research paper, contact Marie-Lynne Foucault at 613-952-1723, or marie-lynne_foucault@phac-aspc.gc.ca

1. Health Canadas GBA policy states that GBA frameworks should be overlaid with a diversity analysis.

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ea-ma/EB/eb-Oct-2009-eng.php

The next Elder Abuse E-bulletin in February 2010 will focus on Elder Abuse Screening and Assessment.

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The Centre for Families, Work & Well-Being at the University of Guelph has just completed a province wide research project on elder abuse in 5 Ontario cities as a partnership between the Centre for Families, Work & Well-Being at the University of Guelph (I am the PI) and ONPEA and Trellis Mental Health and Development Services.

The report can be found at: http://www.uoguelph.ca/cfww/elderabuse/documents/FinalreportNewHorizons.pdf

Goals and Objectives

1. To raise awareness about issues associated with elderabuse among seniors, youth and the general public in different regions of Ontario
2. To raise awareness of services and supports that already exist to address elderabuse in a number of communities in Ontario
3. To provide an opportunity for isolated and other seniors to use their experience and skills to identify and work to remove some of the barriers associated with connecting to interventions in their communities