Advocacy group says elder abuse in Ireland is widespread

Recent figures on elder abuse in Irelandreleased by the HSE represent only a fraction of the cases in Ireland,according to a spokesperson for Age Action.  According to the figures, the HSE’s elder abuse officers dealt with 927 cases last year.  As the majority of the 26 elder abuseofficers have been in their posts for less than 12 months, Mr EamonTimmins, Age Action’s Head of Advocacy and Communications said thescale of the problem is likely to be much greater.  Age Action had previously used the resultsof international studies, which showed that between three per cent andfive per cent of the older population have been victims of elderabuse,” Mr Timmins told IMN.  Applying this to Ireland, would mean thatbetween 14,000 and 23,000 older people would have experienced elderabuse. The figures released show only a fraction of the problem.Because of the nature of the abuse, much of it goes unreported. Manypeople who are abused are afraid to speak out.”

Source:  Irish Medical News, http://www.irishmedicalnews.ie/articles.asp?Category=news&ArticleID=20324