Highlights A Vancity survey, conducted by the Mustel Group, of people aged 65 or older in Metro Vancouver and the Capital Regional District reveals that:
More than one-third (35%) of seniors who experience at least one type of financial abuse choose not to tell anyone
One-fifth (21%) of seniors who experienced financial abuse and did not report it say it was because they didn’t know who to tell.
Of those respondents who say they did not report incidences of abuse, 15% were embarrassed by thesituation and 10% feared it would make the situation worse or result in retaliation.
More than 80% of survey respondents could not name any support services available for seniors who maybe victims of financial abuse.
There is a large gap between unprompted reports of financial abuse (3%) and reported abuse when respondents are presented with specific scenarios (36%), indicating many seniors may not understand theways in which they may be victims.