DPI/NGO Briefing

Be a Better Neighbour: Prevent Elder Neglect
22 May 2008

Summary

Elder abuse is an international concern and changing demographics around the world point to an increased potential for neglect and abuse. Elder abuse takes place in various forms and in different contexts. It encompasses neglect, poor treatment, physical and psychological abuse, and financial exploitation of dependent elderly people in institutional or family settings. The panel explored the numerous issues and discussed the importance to develop new preventive strategies to combat elderly neglect and abuse. The speakers included Ms. Dan Zhang, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations; Mr. Sergei Zelenev, Chief, Social Integration Branch, Division of Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; Mr. Andrew Heslop, Founder, Neighbour Day, Australia; and Ms. Susan Somers, International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, Sub-committee on Elder Abuse, NGO Committee on Ageing. The panel was moderated by Mr. Finjap Njinga, Chief of Meetings Coverage Section, News and Media Division, DPI. The briefing commenced with a video entitled, “Protecting the Dignity of Older Persons,” produced by the European Commission.

Ms. Dan Zhang began by noting that China’s population of elderly, people over the age of 60, to be 153 million people, representing almost 12 percent of the population. That number is expected to increase to more than 200 million people by the year 2014. She added that in both Shanghai and Beijing the number of elderly people was above average. Ms. Zhang noted the emergence of rapid socio-economic development, which may have led to larger populations of elderly. The main issue among the elderly is poor social security. Half of the elderly live away from their children and families. Rural communities face even more specific challenges. Young farmers often move to urban areas and leave their elderly parents behind. This leads to isolation and disengagement of the elderly. Ms. Zhang stressed the importance of intergenerational relations; enriching the lives of elderly people benefits society at large. She noted the significance of job opportunities and transportation for the elderly. Ms. Zhang elaborated on the community-based programs to protect the elderly, such as the recent initiative by the Chinese government, the National Homecare System of China, which will provide care and services to all elderly persons in every town and village by the year 2010. Ms. Zhang also mentioned the “Starlight Project”, a community-based program that arranged 32,000 service stations in communities for the elderly to exercise, socialize, and participate in games and other activities. She noted the expense of these service stations to be around 13.5 billion yen over the past three years. Ms. Zhang noted the effort of over 300,000 volunteers in Beijing who have established relationships with elder people.

Mr. Sergei Zelenev began by introducing the Madrid International Plan of Action of Ageing, which covers contemporary concerns regarding ageing, including the issues of neglect and abuse. Mr. Zelenev quoted Article 5 of this document and noted that a focal point of the initiative was to maintain dignity of elderly persons. He noted the document to identify specific actions that needed to be done. He stressed that raising awareness about ageing was of utmost importance. Mr. Zelenev added that effective responses could achieve several goals: to understand the problem and how to address it, to facilitate problem detection, to prevent the problem and treat consequences, and to promote change. Mr. Zelenev added that the issue of neglect and abuse of the elderly was an issue of social inclusion. He said it was important to take responsibility for these actions. Mr. Zelenev concluded by noting the issue of ageing to be identified relatively recently, but it has been part of the principles adopted by the United Nations since 1981.

Mr. Andrew Heslop began by screening a short film documenting the origins of Neighbour Day, which he started after the death of an elderly woman in Australia, who was found almost two years after dying alone in her home. Mr. Heslop described the primary goal of Neighbour Day to be to encourage people to “knock on the door of a neighbor” and offer your phone number, so they may call you in a time of crisis. Mr. Heslop highlighted a program developed by Australia’s Red Cross Organization, in which elderly people sign up for the program to receive phone calls from Red Cross representatives with the purpose of checking on their well being. When a call goes unanswered, it is repeated twice again within a five-day period, after which a Red Cross representative will go to the elderly person’s home to make sure they are well. According to Mr. Heslop, the program has actually saved lives on several occasions. He said that Neighbor Day and other similar programmes were about bringing communities together. Mr. Heslop concluded his presentation by noting that everyone was a neighbor to someone: “If there was an emergency in your neighborhood today, do you have a way of reaching your next door neighbor?”

Ms. Susan Somers began by speaking about how social isolation lead to elder abuse and discussed the work of her organization (the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, INPEA). Ms. Somers mentioned the objectives of INPEA to be: increasing public awareness; promoting education and training for caregiver professionals; and simulating research in the area of elderly neglect. She introduced a joint project of WHO/INPEA, entitled “Missing Voices”, aimed to explore the views of older persons in regards to elder abuse. Ms. Somers pointed out the factors that lead to elder abuse, which included: psychological or physical impairment of elderly persons, social isolation, dependency, and refusal to accept help. Ms. Somers noted the difficulty in defining elder neglect and abuse due to cultural differences. She introduced INPEA’s research agenda, including the World Environment Scan and World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. She emphasized the crucial role played by education in preventing elder neglect and abuse. To conclude, Ms. Somers quoted the President of INPEA Argentina “…the challenge for us all, is not only to listen to what had been said but to believe and action upon it.”

During the question-and-answer period, a question was raised about new technologies and the elderly. Mr. Zelenev noted that the use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) by elderly people was spreading. Mr. Heslop added that ICTs were an important tool, but must not be mistaken for human contact. He noted that many times the Internet could consume an individual and cause isolation. Mr. Heslop also noted that the media outlet of talk radio was extremely popular with the elderly in Australia. A question was asked about the support for the caregivers of the elderly. Ms. Zhang stressed that more training was needed as well as sufficient monitoring of the caregivers. In response to a comment regarding the 300,000 volunteers at work in Beijing, Ms. Zhang said there were actually more people involved, and noted significant volunteer efforts from children in primary schools who spent time with the elderly through such programs. Ms. Zhang stressed the need for responsibility from governments to prevent social isolation. She added that isolation of the elderly may be rising because of the growing numbers of the elderly who live in high-rise buildings and may not get out as often. A comment was made in regards to examining elder abuse from the point of who the abusers were and to understand the motivation to abuse an elderly. Ms. Somers suggested there was a strong need for training programs that helped caregivers take better care of mentally or physically disabled elders. There was a call for organizing a midday workshop on elder abuse issues during the 61st DPI/NGO Annual Conference.

The briefing was attended by about 100 representatives of NGOs, United Nations and Permanent Mission staff.

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