Hospitals can be front line in uncovering elder abuse

A national plan to combat elder abuse is a key recommendation of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) Elder Abuse – A National Legal Response report released this week.

The ALRC was asked to consider Commonwealth laws and legal frameworks and how they might better protect older persons from misuse or abuse, and safeguard their autonomy.

The report includes 43 recommendations for law reform including the national plan and aged-care recommendations such as:

• improved responses to elder abuse in residential aged care;
• enhanced employment screening of care workers; and
• greater scrutiny regarding the use of restrictive practices in aged care.

St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne — the first health service in Australia to collect data on cases of suspected elder abuse — has welcomed the report and called on governments to embrace its recommendations.

Meghan O’Brien, Senior Social Worker at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, said elder abuse in Australia was significantly under-reported and hospitals could be a major part of the solution.

“Elder abuse is one of the hidden shames of our community. It’s hard to imagine a more vulnerable group,” said O’Brien.

“Older people have a high hospitalisation rate, which means hospitals are an ideal place to detect and manage the problem. Hospitals offer a window of opportunity.

“But the challenge is that healthcare staff often lack the training to recognise the signs of abuse and the knowledge in how to respond.

“Around one-third of older people experiencing elder abuse that we’ve identified are males, 49% are aged over 80 years old and most live in the same home or are dependent on the person causing the abuse.

“In close to one-third of the cases of abuse we’ve identified, it is the older person’s son who is responsible; and more than half come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, with many needing interpreters.

“It’s also not uncommon to find people experiencing more than one type of abuse — either financial, physical, psychological, neglect or sexual.

“In 2009, St Vincent’s put in place an Elder Abuse Governance Framework that has equipped staff to better identify and respond to elder abuse among older patients, and be sensitive to their choices and safety.

“We also established a Vulnerable Older People Coordination and Response Group made up of senior staff at the hospital, which collects and reviews data relating to suspected cases of elder abuse and advises on policy and continuous improvement.

“Because of our efforts, we’re now finding that among the older patients we suspect of being abused, around 65% are disclosing to a health professional about their situation.

“I’m particularly glad to see the Law Commission’s report emphasise the importance of health professionals embedding legal services or utilising pro bono legal resources to better respond to elder abuse.

“My hope is that governments — federal and state — will respond positively to today’s Law Reform Commission report by following through on the recommendation for a coordinated and national response. We all need to work together to address this problem in our ageing society,” said O’Brien.

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