Elder Abuse: Grow The Conversation

Lorna Hamilton Editor

This year’s World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, marked on June 15, 2023, brings our attention to the pressing issue of elder abuse. As an official United Nations International Day, it recognizes the significance of elder abuse as a public health and human rights concern. Since 2006, communities worldwide have united on this day to raise awareness, share information, and promote resources and services to enhance the safety and well-being of seniors.

Elder abuse encompasses various forms, often involving multiple types of abuse occurring simultaneously. Financial and psychological abuse are the most commonly identified and reported types of elder abuse, according to national and provincial statistics.

Financial abuse refers to the misuse of an older person’s funds or property through fraud, trickery, theft, or coercion. It includes actions such as the misuse of money or property, convincing older adults to make unwise financial decisions, stealing possessions, misusing banking accounts, and forging signatures on legal documents.

Psychological or emotional abuse, on the other hand, involves actions that inflict verbal aggression, humiliation, isolation, intimi dation, threats, and inappro priate control on older adults. Such abuse diminishes their identity, self-worth, and can lead to fear, anxiety, and debilitating stress.

In addition to financial and psychological abuse, elder abuse can also manifest as physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and medi