SENIORS, LIKE all age
groups, are subject to sexual,
physical and emotional abuse.

lan Noble
News Reporter

But they are also more vulnerable
to other kinds of abuse such as med-
ication and financial abuse, said
Pearl McKenzie, a worker with the
B.C. Coalition to Eliminate Abuse of
Seniors (B.C. CEASE).

B.C. Cease is an umbrella agency
for community groups struggling to
eliminate the “complex” problem of
elderly abuse, she said. .

Just how widespread the abuse
and neglect of the elderly is is diffi-
cult to determing, said McKenzie,
although a random study by
Toronto’s Ryerson Polytechnic
revealed 5% of seniors in B.C. expe-
rienced abuse.

The survey was conducted over
the phone, when the elderly being
interviewed may have been near
their abusers and unwilling to talk of
abuse, which leads McKenzie to
believe the real abuse problem may

' well be greater,

“Given the faults of the research,
that's still a pretty significant number
of people.”

Seniors are often abused by fami-
ly members such as spouses and chil-

. dren.

: McKenzie said children asking
~ for money or to move in with their
parents can use emotional blackmail

* to get their way.

Jessie Whitehead

North Vancouver

Yes. I think we are, because
there’s such a shortage of
employment for young people
that they think the older people
have all had it that easy.

ctandes

 MOLENC

miata: BES OT

Sarena

NEWS photo Paul McGrath

DIANE SCRIVENER of North Shore Health says [oneliness can lead to the abuse of the elderly.

They threaten to put their parents
in an institution or not bring the
grandchildren around for visits.

Family members often open
seniors’ mail, read it and throw it

Flora Knowles

North Vancouver

{t depends on the senior. The
ones that are shut in and don't
go out much are more liable to
get talked into something on
the telephone. Sometimes
they're lonely and just want
someone to tilk to.

oat fe

away. without letting the senior see
it.
“It's all part of the way people
treat seniors like children,” she said.
Abuse of the elderly can also take

Tom Silva

North Vancouver

} would say yes, particularly in
securing services, they are
more vulnerable. They should
be more aware of the various
scams.

THE NORTH Shere News survey team tele-
phoned 445 North and West Vancouver resi-
dents to find out whether you think seniors are
more vulnerable to financial exploitation than
other people. The following pie charts contain a
breakdown of survey results:

the form of inedication abuse, in
which overworked caregivers may
sedate a senior with too much medi-
cine rather than deal with the senior’s
anger and emotional outbursts,

Florence Boddn

North Vanceuver

Well, Vl answer it this way:
they are, but they shouldn’t be
because we're old enough to
know better!

NO OFINION

Diane Servener. a fong-terny care
consultant a North Shore Health,
sid seniors, who often have assets
tike homes, fall prey to scam artists
and family menibees wanting casi.
Often the victim is a widow, whose
husband managed the family’s
finanees.

In essence, sald Scrivener, vie-
tims ure asked to give away the
estate before dying.

“Loneliness tends to be a factor in
an awful locof these cases,” she said.

Some of the saddest stories of
seniors’ abuse, McKenzie said, arise
from women who stay with hus-
bands who hive been abusive
throughout the murriage.

Thirty years ago, there were no
services to help battered wonten, said
McKenzie.

Wien women become older and
fraiter, the injuries they suffer from
abuse become more serious.

Other senior women are looking
after abusive husbands.

“Is common cnough that every
time Ido a workshop around the
province people are struggling with
the problem,” «ic Kenzie said.

An added dimension with
seniors’ abuse iy that police arc ham-
pered in bringing charges against
senior abusers, she said.

The abuser has to be able to form
intent to be charged with a crime.
That effectively freezes the justice
system when dealing with dementia
in abusive seniors. who are more
likely &- -uffer from it, often due toa

See Assistance page 4

Thomas Rennie

North Vancouver

Oh, all the time. Whenever you
get your car repaired or need
something done, the job is hit
or miss. A younger person is

more likely to
NO OPINION
0.6%

NORTH VANCOUVER

NEWS graphic Robyn Brown