This public opinion research report presents the results of a review of scientific literature, individual interviews with Canadian and international researchers as well as representatives of Canada’s provincial and territorial governments, and a group interview with members of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, conducted by the Université de Sherbrooke on behalf of the Department of Justice Canada. Interviews were conducted between June 2021 to July 2021, and then from November 2021 to March 2022.
"Although it has been studied since 1970, combatting abuse of older persons poses numerous issues and challenges around the world in terms of how it is defined, measured or tracked and given priority in policy, and in terms of practices recognized to be effective. This Canadian exploratory study sought to explore the feasibility of filling national data gaps in the area of abuse of older persons in effort to respond to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada’s mandate letter commitment to improve data collection on “elder abuse”. The study has four specific objectives that were contractually agreed upon between the University of Sherbrooke and the Department of Justice Canada (contract value = $38,420) :
1) to obtain information on the challenges and gaps in data collection on abuse;
2) to document the differences between abuse and neglect in data collection;
3) to design pragmatic approaches to successful research/data collection; and
4) to identify important data points to collect on the mistreatment of older persons.
The results of this study will help further our knowledge and understanding of the data gaps in the production of data on abuse of older persons, and provide up-to-date scientific elements to inform decision-making."
Source: Justice Canada and Research Chair on Mistreatment of Older Adults
