World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

On the 15th of June the world comes together, on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, to raise awareness of elder abuse - a very serious issue that affects almost all older people at some point in their lives.

The annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day looks to provide an opportunity for communities around the world to promote a better understanding of abuse and neglect of older persons by raising awareness of the cultural, social, economic and demographic processes affecting elder abuse and neglect.

Last year 1 in 6 older people suffered some form of abuse with as many as 2 out of every 3 older people with dementia being abused. 

Staggeringly only 4% of all abuse gets reported and often older people suffer in silence, not wanting to get their abuser into trouble

Elder abuse doesn’t only happen to very frail or sick people, it can happen to any older person in any environment, sadly it can happen at home and even in medical or care settings. 

At Age UK Birmingham and Sandwell we take a stand against all forms of abuse, we encourage and support older people to find their voice and speak out.

We support people through our information and advice services, wellbeing activities and dementia support services to so they can make most of later life, maximise their income to find appropriate services and support to meet their needs and of course offer compassion and empathy to everyone we support. 

In the coming days, we will be raising awareness about elder abuse and fund-raising to enable us to do even more to support local older people. 

Keep an eye out on our website and social media in the coming weeks to find out how you can support our valuable work. 

We encourage everyone to become more aware of the types of abuse suffered by older people, speak out if you feel something is wrong or if you suspect abuse is taking place, seek the appropriate support from organisations like Age UK Birmingham and Age UK Sandwell who can offer help and guidance.

If someone is in immediate danger call 999.