Gardaí are investigating a series of claims of sexual abuse of older people being cared for at home or in nursing homes, it has emerged.
In the North Eastern Health Board area alone, gardaí are investigating 18 cases where older people are alleged to have been victims of sexual abuse. The victims in four of these cases were older men.
At least one of the cases involves the abuse of an older woman in a nursing home who was being sexually abused by a visiting relative.
Mr Austen Warters, project manager with the NEHB, said the lack of public discussion of the issue showed sexual abuse of older people was largely a "hidden" phenomenon.
"This isn't just confined to the North Eastern Health board. I have done training in other health board areas and abuse is a matter of concern for all areas," Mr Warters told The Irish Times.
"If this happened in an institution for children, there would be outrage. The fact that there isn't such a reaction when it involves older people is a reflection that society doesn't value older people in the same way," he said.
"We wouldn't accept children in public care being accommodated in a crowded ward and being forced to wear communal clothing. Yet we accept these standards for older people."
He said that, due to a lack of legislative protection for older people, some social workers had sought to deal with abuse in the home under the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act.
International figures suggest between 3 and 5 per cent of older people are at risk of some form of regular abuse.
However, the true extent of this problem remains unknown as there are no statistics for rates of such abuse in institutions.
Research suggests that most abuse of older people takes place in the home, by a neighbour or family member, while a smaller proportion is estimated to take place in long-stay care.
Concern was expressed yesterday at a conference on older people, organised by the voluntary group Reach Out, that many recommendations by a Government-established group aimed at tackling such abuse had not been acted on. The Working Group on Elder Abuse, established in 2000, said special abuse case officers should be appointed in at least every health board area.
However, Prof Des O'Neill, a member of the working group and a geriatrician at Dublin's Tallaght Hospital, said just two such officers had been appointed even though funds had been provided to all health boards.
Action on Elder Abuse (AEA), a London-based support group, said yesterday it was receiving around 300 phone calls a year relating to abuse in Ireland.
"They have coming to us because they're nowhere else to go. We would have expected far greater progress in Ireland on the issue in recent years," AEA's chief executive, Mr Gary Fitzgerald, said.
The group is planning to establish an office in Belfast this year.
Abuse of older people: the warning signs
Unusual or unexplained injuries, such as cuts, bruises or burns, for which strange and inconsistent explanations are given; unkempt appearance; pressure sores or bed sores; evidence of unnecessary restraint, such as being tied to furniture or locked in a room; dehydration or malnutrition without a medical cause; fear, withdrawal, depression, or anxiety; visits to many doctors or hospitals; helplessness; a hesitation to talk openly.
Source: American National Centre of Elder Abuse
SUPPORT GROUPS: Reach Out Campaign Tel: (01) 6722222; Age Action Ireland Tel: +353 (1) 4756989; www.ageaction.ie Action on Elder Abuse Tel: +44 (0)20 8765 7000; www.elderabuse.org.uk
