Key trends

Key trends from Age Concern Elder Abuse and Neglect Prevention services.

Each year Age Concern elder abuse and neglect prevention (EANP) services receive over 1000 referrals of people who are allegedly facing elder abuse and neglect.  That’s about four referrals a day.  We investigate each situation, and work with the older person and their family/whanau as appropriate to maintain safety and well-being.

Elder Abuse is a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person.

- Action on Elder Abuse 1995, subsequently adopted by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse

Cases of Abuse

The trends below come from confirmed cases of abuse that Age Concern EANP services have worked with over the past ten years.  About two-thirds of the referrals they receive are confirmed as cases of elder abuse – that’s 2 to 3 new cases of elder abuse each day. 

That's not the whole size of the problem though. Abuse is also identified by other agencies including health providers, the Police, lawyers, other community support organisations, and the five non-Age Concern elder abuse and neglect prevention services.

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Types of abuse that people have experienced

Note that most clients experience more than one type of abuse or neglect. 

• Psychological - up to 62%
• Material/financial - up to 50%
• Physical – 20%
• Neglect – up to 20%

Who is involved?

• 65% to 70% of abused are women.  Even taking account of the fact that there are 6 women over the age of 65 for every 5 men, women are over-represented as victims of elder abuse. 
• 40% to 46% of abused live alone.
• up to 80% of abuse is committed by family members. We know that family members continue to abuse their older relatives even when that person is in residential care.
• up to 50% of abusers are adult children.
• Unlike other forms of family violence, abusers are as likely to be female as male.
• Up to 35 % of abusers are primary caregivers.  This could be a family member or support worker if the person is living in the community, or a staff member if the person is living in residential care.

The impact on older people

 Older people who are dependent on others are particularly vulnerable to abuse.  There are a number of reasons for this - abuse often happens because of an imbalance of power. It continues to happen because the older person may fear that if they complain, they will get more abuse or poorer care. 

For about half of the older people supported by Age Concern over the last ten years, their health was significantly affected by the abuse they experienced. 

Two out of every 5 abused people experienced significant reduction in their independence,  loss of confidence and self esteem, and reported feeling very frightened or anxious and emotionally distressed.

About a quarter experienced long-term consequences. 

A qualitative study published in the UK in 2007 found similar results.

(UK Study of Abuse and Neglect of Older People: Qualitative Findings. August 2007. Kings College London/ National Centre for Social Research).

> RETURN to the Age Concern elder abuse and neglect master page

Resources

Age Concern has built up New Zealand's best picture of elder abuse and neglect through analysis of over ten years' data from Elder Abuse and Neglect Prevention services. Reports are available to download, as below, or buy from our Information Centre.

More resources

> VIEW our full list of EANP publications

> RETURN to the Age Concern elder abuse and neglect master page