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By Alana Prochuk
Elder abuse and violence against women aren't separate issues, and we believe that they must not be separate conversations. That’s why West Coast LEAF (Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund) and the Canadian Centre for Elder Law are offering a free webinar for front-line service providers to explore the legal challenges that are most likely to impact older women in BC who have experienced violence.
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By Laura Bailey
The Community Elder Abuse Prevention Committee of Thunder Bay, Ontario, with funding from New Horizons Canada, has developed a series of powerful videos about elder abuse. The Victims' Voices videos present the stories of real victims of elder financial abuse perpetrated by individuals who preyed on seniors. In the hope of protecting other seniors, these brave victims generously agreed to be interviewed by the Thunder Bay Police. Using those interviews, we will share their stories.
Our aim is to spread awareness of the financial abuse of older adults and to assess the effectiveness of these videos in educating the public. We are collecting this information using a 5-minute survey, available at this link, along with the two 5-minute videos.
Please take a few minutes to watch the videos and take the survey. We are hoping you will help spread the word about this project. Posting the link below on your website or emailing the link and description to your email list subscribers would be appreciated. Our target audiences are both older adults and those who care for them.
For more information, contact Laura Bailey at
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By Jenny Ruan
Gao came to Canada five years ago. She was sponsored by her son, Henry. He and his wife May had twin baby girls. Gao was excited to meet her first grandchildren and welcomed the opportunity to care for them when her daughter-in-law returned to work. Consistent with immigration policy, Gao’s son signed an undertaking with the government of Canada to be financially responsible for his mother for a period of ten years.
Soon after arriving in Canada, Gao realizes May expects a lot of her. In addition to caring for the girls all day, Gao must cook all the meals, and do all the grocery shopping, housework and laundry. May often reminds Gao that it was very expensive to bring her to Canada and cover her food, housing and health care.
There are now four grandchildren. Although Gao feels blessed with such a beautiful family, she is increasingly exhausted by all the housework. She has developed health issues and has no time to go to the doctor regularly. Her doctor wants her to rest during the day, but this is impossible with the caregiving responsibilities she has. Her daughter-in-law is a very conservative spender. She will not pay for the new eye glasses Gao needs, or Gao’s blood pressure medicine. Gao longs to take an English class at the community centre or practice Tai Chi with the women in the park in her neighbourhood, but May says she needs Gao’s help all day. The Minister in the church approaches Gao to inquire about her when he notices her decline in health. He is very kind but Gao is afraid to tell him what is going on at home. She worries that her son will be embarrassed or that May will have her deported.
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By Talitha Guinn, N.Y.C. Elder Abuse Center Social Media Manager in collaboration with Ana Poblet-Kouttjie, MPH Project Coordinator, National Center on Elder Abuse, Keck School of Medicine of USC
Watch out world – the Elder Justice League is here! The League raises awareness of elder abuse across social media platforms and takes elder justice conversations mainstream. Convened in October 2015 by the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), the League is comprised of elder justice advocates representing 11 organizations. Participating organizations have varying funding streams and missions, serve diverse populations, and share a wide breadth of expertise. League representatives are interdisciplinary and geographically diverse, hailing from many parts of the US and Canada. (Click here for a list of participating League organizations and representatives.)
The League’s methods are time-saving and effective. First, League members work together to generate ideas for elder justice-related social media messaging. Then, by coordinating the release of the messages, a multiplier effect is created, deepening the impact beyond what any one organization could accomplish alone. For example, during a recent meeting, we found that several organizations held a deep commitment to intergenerational approaches to end elder abuse. Since that meeting, members of the Elder Justice League have supported one another’s messaging around intergenerational elder justice causes where those messages align with each individual member’s core mission.
In addition to common messaging, the League offers many tangible benefits to member professionals and organizations. Current members report that their Facebook and Twitter posts are reaching larger audiences and attracting more followers. This group also offers a space to provide and receive feedback about campaign ideas, learn from each other’s efforts, obtain support and build new professional connections.
Another benefit is reduced isolation and opportunities for synergy. Elder justice advocates often work solo because their organizations have either a small staff or a staff with only a small percentage of time allocated specifically to elder justice initiatives. By coming together for a monthly web/teleconference and staying in touch via email, previously siloed advocates have become energized around their mutual work.
Meetings are coordinated by NCEA, but can be hosted and moderated by any of the members. During League conference calls, participants discuss current and upcoming social media campaigns, brainstorm new ideas and share social media handles and hashtags. All members are invited to contribute agenda items and anyone can participate in working groups that form to work on a particular issue or event. For example, several members are currently working on creating unified messaging for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
The League has created an ever-evolving and regularly updated database that includes member names, contact information and organizational social media account names. This database is a resource that can be used to locate other elder justice professionals online to share/like/comment on posts. Group members are active across multiple social media platforms and share content using popular hashtags such as #elderabuse and #elderjustice to increase the reach of individual posts and amplify online conversations.
If you work for an elder justice-focused nonprofit, government agency, organization, or coalition that has a social media account, you are invited to join the coalition. You don’t have to be a social media guru to share what you know and learn from others.
Email Ana Poblet-Kouttjie at if your organization would like to join The Elder Justice League. Thank you in advance for considering bringing your talent to the cause of taking elder justice mainstream – one click at a time.
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By Margaret Easton
The relationship between frailty and elder abuse is receiving increasing attention in the research literature. In a previous blog, I reviewed research which suggested that normal age-related frailty leading to impairment in Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s) poses a significant risk factor for financial exploitation. The authors of that study concluded that “the need of some older adults for help and assistance in accomplishing everyday activities appears to elicit verbal abusiveness and economic exploitation, but not other forms of abuse” (Acierno et al., 2011). In this blog, I’d like to share the results of a research article published last month that strongly suggests that economic exploitation in late life leads to increased mortality (Burnett et al., 2016).
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