29th November: Older People’s Experiences of Domestic Abuse
Age UK, recently released a report called No Age Limit: The Blind Spot of Older Victims and Survivors in the Domestic Abuse Bill which reports that the lockdown has increased the risk of older people experiencing domestic abuse, despite misconceptions that those living with others are ‘fortunate’ and ‘safe’. Such abuse victims are likely to be dependent on the person abusing them financially or for their care. They will face, in addition to fear, barriers to reporting this abuse such as lack of physical and mental capacity and a lack of access to digital or other services.
Age UK is asking the government to consider how to make the best use of resources to tackle domestic abuse among older people and is calling for the training for health care practitioners, including GPs and practice nurses, who work with older people, particularly during hospital admission and discharge and data on domestic abuse for all ages, not just people aged 74 and under.
In Barking and Dagenham this is an area we want to get better at, and we were pleased to see that the IRIS programme recently came to the borough – a programme to improve identification of domestic abuse in GP practices and improve the response and referrals into specialist support. Adult’s social care play a big part in our local partnership groups too, in relation to domestic abuse.
What sort of barriers do you think older people face when dealing with domestic abuse? Please add your views below.
Resources and Support Links:
No Age Limit: The Blind Spot of Older Victims and Survivors in the Domestic Abuse Bill