“Is that all? I know you got your cheque yesterday.” The grandson takes his grandmother’s wallet, grabs a bunch of cash and heads out quickly. A friend comes to visit her soon after. “Your grandson had a chunk of change there. Did he get it from you?”. “He’s my grandson,” the grandmother answered.
This might be a scenario that you have seen in the NWT. Financial abuse is the most common form of elder abuse in the NWT. There are other forms of abuse but a serious consequence is that they often lead to the social isolation of the elder. It is very hard for an elder to feel alone and without help. We don’t know the true number of cases because most elders do not want to lay charges. But there is still a lot that we can do to help the elders.
Do you see or hear different stories and wonder if the elder is being abused? Do you want a chance to talk about elder abuse and get more ideas on how to respond? Do you think your community needs to do something about elder abuse?
If you have any of these questions, your community might benefit from the 2-day workshop that the NWT Seniors’ Society offers. The workshop is called Creating Safe Communities for Older Adults. You share what elder abuse looks like in your community. We learn about the different types of abuse and the signs of abuse. We show videos of abuse stories and discuss how to respond to an elder in a helpful way. Then we look at how a community might work together to decrease elder abuse. We pay for coming to the workshop and for staff time.
You only have to find us a place to meet, send notices and invitations and organize the food.
If you are interested, contact the NWT Seniors’ Society at 1-800-661-0878 or email ed@seniorsnwt.ca
There is also a network that works on elder abuse in the NWT. It is called NWT Network to Prevent Elder Abuse. We talk to each other by telephone and keep in touch on any work that is done to fight elder abuse.
So come join the NWT Seniors' Society and NWTRPA, and support community actions against elder abuse!
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is marked each year on June 15 to acknowledge the significance of elder abuse as a public health and human rights issue, and raise the visibility of elder abuse by organizing events to share information and promote resources and services that can help increase seniors’ safety and well-being.