Why older people don’t complain about being abused
Older people don't like to make an "issue of things" if they are being abused, say organisations dealing with elder abuse.
This could make them more vulnerable and open to being taken advantage of further.
Senior Citizens' community support co-ordinator Robyn Baldwin said abuse came in many forms – physical, mental or emotional.
"We have vulnerable people out there who put their faith in people and people take advantage of it. It is a sad time when that happens and sometimes we hear about it when it is too late."
Baldwin said there was support for those people and they did not have to feel alone. All they needed to do was pick up the phone and ask for help.
Senior constable Bill Phiskie said people were more aware of elder abuse nowadays and organisations were better qualified to act on it.
However, the problem was people did not want to complain, due to embarrassment or because a family member was involved.
Phiskie and Sergeant Geoff McCrostie work with Family Works to deal with cases of elder abuse, either discussing action or getting directly involved when criminal or financial offences are taking place.
McCrostie said people needed to tell the police all about the issue before they could work out a plan of action to deal with it.
By far the most common form of abuse the police dealt with was financial, he said. There was also always some sort of connection between the parties, be it family or caregivers.
"There will always be people who are prepared to take advantage of the vulnerable."
They also dealt with "devious" cases when people "wore down" the elderly by taking advantage of their health issues, or through general emotional abuse.
One case involved a son saying he would not bring his kids around to visit his mother unless she loaned him money.
A daughter in her mid-50s had also been arrested for assaulting her mother in her mid-80s. Phiskie said it had happened once or twice prior to it being reported to the police.
Have you ever experienced elder abuse? Or know someone who has? What can we do to help?
Written by Natasha Thyne And Sahiban Kanwal. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz.