In 2003, a joint federal/ provincial/ territorial government Working Group commissioned an environmental scan of abuse and neglect in later life in Canada, fulfilling, in part, the country’s role in the "World View on Elder Abuse and Neglect.”  Highlights of the Report include:

In reviewing the progress made, it is clearly evident that Canada has had many achievements to be proud of in the area. In the past year, in particular, Canada celebrated several significant legal and education developments, including the passing of new Adult Protection legislation in the Yukon; the first provincial senior abuse media awareness campaign (Alberta); development and expansion of legal awareness websites and an elder law section of the Canadian Bar Association; two major provincial conferences dedicated to abuse issues in later life in Quebec and Ontario; and growth in two provincial networks. In March, 2004 Ontario will be holding its third abuse conference and in May, 2004 Newfoundland-Labrador will be holding its first conference in this area.

Abuse and neglect of older adults who reside in institutions (such as nursing homes) has largely been under-recognized in Canada, tending to fall “outside of the abuse radar”. However, throughout 2003, family advocates and health care advocates in at least three Canadian provinces continued to raise the visibility of abuse and neglect in institutions and push for appropriate services, level of staffing and staff training, and improved government oversight. This issue will become even more pressing as some Canadian jurisdictions shift their care resources for “vulnerable seniors” from licensed nursing homes to unlicensed, self-regulated assisted living.

In 2003, key Canadian organizations also began leading the way in recognizing and framing “elder abuse” within a broader view of societal and global ageism.

They emphasize the need to identify and repudiate the manner in which older adults are politically scapegoated and characterized as a "drain" on society and government resources: older adults continue to have their current and lifelong contribution to families, communities, and societies systemically devalued. Public education which frames abuse issues within broader “aging and respect” issues may hold the key in many communities.

Over the past decade, Canada has moved away from viewing abuse and neglect in later life as a homogeneous phenomenon. Instead, we are coming to understand it as being comprised of many different kinds of harms that are socially placed under a broad umbrella term of “elder abuse”.

It occurs in many diverse settings with different dynamics, and with different kinds of help being needed and offered. With that in mind, a federal-provincial-territorial Working Group is currently examining the range of prevention and intervention approaches being taken in Canada, in an effort to understand which of these shows the most promise.

In Montreal, Quebec, the Notre Dame de Grace CCEA is working on ways to prevent financial abuse of older adults who live in Low Income Housing Units. The project will offer information sessions for seniors by working in collaboration with the police, a crime prevention organization (“Tandem Montréal”), a national bank and other resources. Daphne Nahmiash, a Montreal researcher is also developing a screening tool for low income housing to help identify vulnerable seniors at risk for abuse and neglect.

Affordability and financial security are frequently critical factors in being able to safely leave abuse. Some older adults are left in the untenable position of having to stay in an abusive situation, simply because they cannot find alternative housing in order to leave.  Communities across the country search for answers on how best to meet the crisis and transitional housing needs of abused older women and older men.

By Elizabeth Podnieks

The Ontario Elder Abuse Conference, “Sharing Solutions: Defining the Future” held this past November in Toronto was a huge success. Leading researchers and policy representatives from Canada, the United Kingdom, United States, Oceania, and Europe took part in the conference.

The conference built upon and went beyond the research experience of elder abuse researchers in Ontario, across Canada and globally. The conference was widely multidisciplinary and participation came from sociology, social work, nursing, medicine, and law. It served as a catalyst for researchers to share their work with one another, helping to enrich expertise, knowledge, networking and collaborations, allowing future research agendas to be developed so that further rigorous study can be conducted Elder Abuse is now recognized as a critical problem worthy of serious academic inquiry and concerted social action on the part of all Canadians.

The future of elder abuse research in Canada is hopeful. Interest among established researchers is growing. There is a critical need to improve evaluation methods and provide the necessary research base; there are also major challenges of study design, methodology and logistics that have to be resolved. A goal for the future of is to see Canadian universities working in partnership with collaboration amongst researchers and service providers so that rigorous research can be conducted in the open service systems in which many factors are not under the control of the research investigator The substantive area of work has received increased research and public policy attention in Canada as shown by both federal and provincial governments, through funding and other resources, they have sent a strong message of their commitment to eradicating the problem of elder abuse.