= Saee SS IN B.C. an estimated 16,000 elderly persons suffer abuse or neglect. They may be abused emotionally, financially, physically or materially — in each respect, they are denied their hasic human rights and theic right to self-determination. The Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and Neglect is working to increase public awareness of the problem. WINDOW COVERINGS 4” Mini blinds Sale ends July 34/90 “*” Win $400 worth of Mary Kay Cosmetics! . Any purchase $500.00 or more qualifies for 2 1 the draw, offer-ends. July 48/90 A SHADE BETTER 1877 Marine Drive, North Vancouver Parking in rear FAX: 984-4178 984-4104 NEW RECIPE *GLADYS, 83, hardly ever gets out. Her daughter cashes her pension cheques. amount. elda’s son and daughter-in-law moved in with her 10 years ago. Now it seems that the house is theirs, She stays in her room, They open her mail. They answer the phone. Visitors don’t even try {0 come any more. {an British Columbia an estimated 16,000 elderly persons suffer some form of abuse or ne- glect. Gillian Taylor, project manager for the Committee for the Preven- tion of Elder Abuse and Neglect (CPEAN), says that ‘more than half the incidents (of elder abuse) are financial or material. Emo- tional abuse is the next largest category.”’ Following these are physical and medication abuse. Sadly, most of these incidents occur in the family home or are perpetrated by a family member. Many situations go unrecognized because the elderiy person is too frightened or humiliated to act. The CPEAN, set up a year ago, is actively providing public educa- tion in the form of brochures, workshops and a video in an ef- fort to educate the public, care- givers and the elderly themselves about elder abuse. Abuse or neglect isn't always intentional; sometimes it is the Gladys never receives the full Ry BARBARA BLACK News Reparter result of an overworked caregiver who simply hasn’t the time or en- durance to cope with an elderly person. Other times it is part of a pattern of family abuse that is reversed onto the aging parent. Often an elderly person’s affairs are taken over unofficially by a family member and go un- monitored. Some abuse even oc- curs when a person is granted guardianship and abuses his or her authority. Part of the problem, says Taylor, is that the existing guard- janship laws in B.C. are too black and white, defining a person as ei- ther competent or incompetent. In reality, an elderiy person might be competent in one area but incompetent in another. The current law allows for no such degrees of competence. As a result, elderly people can be shut out from their own daily affairs and their basic human rights denied by family members, Caregivers or other professionals who make decisions for them. The abuse may involve a caregiver keeping a portion of a 29 - Wednesday, July 4, 1990 - North Shore News PATIO & POOLS S financial and material pension cheque or a_ professional preying on an elderly person’s vulnerability. Pearl McKenzie, legal informa- tion director for the North Shore Information and Volunteer Cen- tre, says that ‘‘since 1982 1 observed more and more cases of elderly people who were vulner- able. So we started documenting the cases of elder abuse.”’ From this the Project to Review Adult Guardianship was born. With $225,000 worth of funding from the Law Foundation of B.C., the project set out to iden- tify the problems faced by sur- rogate-cecision makers and by those under guardianship. In the context of elder abuse these problems include: abuse be- fore guardianship is established and abuse afterwards by the ap- pointed committee (pronounced ‘*kom-i-tay’') assigned to manage the affairs of the elderly person. In the case before guardianship is appointed, the CPEAN is undertaking an intensive interven- tion program and establishing a network of community resources across B.C, If an appointed guardian is abusing, he or she can be reported to the public trustee. An insidious element of the guardianship law is that the per- See Laws Page 30 ee with homecrest Our Very Popular Line Now At Incredible Savings! We're excited! One of our highest quality lines of patio furniture. HOMECREST, has allowed us to offer you substantial savings on all their very durable and beautifully designed outdoor furniture groups. Take the PALMA group pictured in this ad AG” table. 4 stacking chairs, 7¥2 umbrella with hase. (As shown) SALE. S999 PRICE or a 467 table, 4 swivel chairs. “Y umbrelia with base. SALE PRICE °1,349 Vancouver's most beautiful patio & sunroom furnishings. BURNABY 294-1194 2927 Norland Ave. NORTH VANCOUVER Marine & Pemberton 984-9567