Scandal of Elderly Abused by Their Families

U.K. AT THE last census, 15,258 people out of the 80,287 living in the district were above the age of 65, which works out as 19 per cent of the population.

However,both the county council and charity Help the Aged say that the true figure is likely to be much higher because there are still ongoing investigations and because a large amount of abuse goes unreported.

Lizzie Jeans, the manager for Help the Aged's elder abuse campaign, said: "More often than not older people will not report abuse or maynot even recognise that they are being abused.

"Many elderly people have low self-esteem and think of themselves as a burden, so when people are being abusive,they often think that they deserve it.

"Recent research that we have carried out suggests that on anational level there maybe 500,000 cases of elder abuse that have gone unreported."

The statistics reveal, quite shockingly, that family members were the main source of abuse....

Of the other cases, four were committed by care home workers, one was from a domestic care agency, one was by a resident of a care home and two were classified as "other".
Most of the abuse also occurred at the elder-ly person's home rather than at care or nursing homes.

Ms Jeans said: "There is a common misconception, due to a number of high-profile cases, that most abuse of elderly people is in care homes and nursing homes and perpetrated by the staff or other residents.

"What these statistics prove, however, is that most abuse is, sadly,intheir own homes and by family members.Researchhas suggestedthat it tends not to be a primary carer, but someone slightly removed, such as an in-law or even a grand-child."

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