The National Centre for the Protection of Older People (NCPOP) in Ireland launched a new report (8th November, 2010) entitled The National Study of Elder Abuse and Neglect based on research led by  Dr Corina Naughton, UCD and funded by the HSE.

It focused on five forms of elder abuse:

Physical abuse including being threatened or hit with an object, slapped, kicked, being restrained or denied access to equipment such as a walking or hearing aid.

Psychological abuse including being insulted, excluded, undermined or prevented from seeing people the older person cares about such as grandchildren.

Financial abuse including instances in which money or possessions were stolen or the person was forced to sign over property.

Sexual abuse defined as being talked to or touched in a sexual way.

Neglect including the refusal or failure of a carer to help with activities of daily living such as shopping, washing or dressing.

Abuse refers to physical, sexual, financial and psychological abuse while mistreatment also includes neglect.

The 12-month prevalence study defined physical, financial or sexual abuse as one or more incidents while psychological abuse and neglect were categorised as consisting of 10 or more incidents, while the prevalence study of mistreatment since an older person turned 65 covered any incident of abuse. The study involved 2,021 people over the age of 65 being interviewed face-to-face in their homes between April and May 2010.

The average age of respondents was 74 years; 37 per cent lived in rural locations; just over 20 per cent lived in Dublin city or county while the rest reside in small, medium or large urban settings.

Over 40 per cent lived alone, approximately 36 per cent lived with a spouse or partner and the remaining 20 per cent lived in intergenerational households or complex household structures where the older person shared the house with an adult child and their family or other relatives.

The report summary is available at the following link: The National Study of Elder Abuse and Neglect

Presentations from the launch:

Presentation by Dr Corina Naughton

Presentation by Dr Karl Pillemar