According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the abuse of older people, also known as elder abuse, is an intentional act, or failure to act, by a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust that causes harm to an adult 60 years and older. Around 1 in 6 people 60 years and older experienced some form of abuse in community settings. Rates in institutional settings, such as nursing homes and long-term care facilities, are higher still.

In 2022, OSSCO© has presented two educational workshops on Elder Abuse Awareness and Prevention. They were funded by New Horizons for Seniors.

Please click here for information on OSSCO©‘s Step Up to Elder Abuse Project

Elder Abuse Prevention Strategies: Raising Awareness through Education

The World Health Organization has reported that many strategies have been implemented to prevent abuse of older people, take action against it and mitigate its consequences through Interventions including public and professional awareness campaigns. OSSCO is involved for many years in awareness campaigns through its participation on the North York Elder Abuse Networks as well as through its own work.

We published reports, created conferences – Elder Abuse: the Universal Challenge, developed educational brochures for people living in retirement homes – My Home, My Community: Safety Starts Here, delivered workshops with accompanying videos  – Step Up to Elder Abuse and the following 2 videos specifically for seniors living in retirement and Long Term Care Homes.

Scroll over each video to watch these self-directed learning programs

My Home, My Community – Safety Starts Here

My Home, My Long-term Care Community – Safety Starts Here

World Health Organization Response to Abuse of Older People (post below the videos)

WHO and partners published “Tackling abuse of older people: five priorities for the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030)”. The United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021–2030  is a unique chance for a step change in the way abuse of older people is tackled. It offers an opportunity to address abuse of older people in a more concerted, sustained and coordinated way and to reduce the number of older people worldwide who experience abuse. This document outlines five priorities, arrived at through wide consultation, to prevent and respond to abuse of older people, which are:

• combatting ageism;
• generating more and better data on prevalence and risk and on protective factors;
• developing and scaling up cost–effective solutions for abuse of older people;
• making an investment case for addressing the issue; and
• raising funds for tackling abuse of older people.

WHO’s response to abuse of older people will also be organized according to these five priorities. If governments, UN agencies and development organizations, civil society organizations, academic and research institutions and funders implement these priorities we can finally start to prevent abuse of older people globally and contribute to improving their health, well-being and dignity.