No Respect For The Old

In many Asian cultures, a certain reverence exists for the old. We respect their experience and skills, honed over a lifetime. We take pride in their insight and their ties to our heritage and cultural practices. Yet, this is a generalization and does not fully reflect the reality faced by most older adults. Elder abuse, defined by the World Health Organization as “a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person,” is a sad but all too common violation of the basic human rights of elders. One in six people aged 60 and above are subject to abuse in community settings, but it gets worse. Even nursing homes and long-term care facilities are regular culprits, in which two to three staff commit elder abuse to their very own clients.?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on most of us, and elders are not exempted. Indeed, elder abuse rates have only increased during this time and with the rapidly increasing ageing population across the world, these rates can only be expected to rise further. If such abuse is left unattended, severe consequences often arise in the form of serious physical injuries and long-term psychological damage.?

Take nursing homes, for instance, an elder is left to the deliberate and willful actions of their nursing staff, often functionally dependent on them due to a disability or generally poor health condition, potentially in a state of impaired judgment or otherwise if they happen to be suffering from dementia. Such a scenario paints the elder as helpless in the eyes of potential perpetrators of the abuse, who see the elder as someone unable to report the abuse due to any number of reasons: their mental impairment prevents them from doing so; their inability to speak if suffering from a severe stroke; their fear of their complaints resulting in even more trouble for family members. ?

With these factors taken into account, it should come as no surprise that most elder abuse comes in the form of psychological abuse, in line with most other areas of abuse, and that the victim is being abused because they have no real means of dissuading it. However, this is but a single scenario, sadly, abuse comes in many forms, and should be stopped at all costs.?

The World Health Organization deems certain strategies as promising forms of prevention and intervention of elder abuse. Notably, caregiver interventions that relieve caregiving burden; money management programs to protect older adults from financial exploitation; helplines and emergency shelters; and multi-disciplinary teams dedicated to assisting older adults. Regular persons have their own part to play, as older adults must look out for the wellbeing of their cohorts, and the younger generations must undergo a change in perspective to better respect their elders.