Carers and Elder Abuse

1
Carers and Elder Abuse

• Who are carers?
• What are their concerns about elder abuse?
• Working positively with carers to prevent elder
  abuse

2
Carers and Direct Payments Act defines a carer as

• an individual, aged 16 or over,
• who provides or intends to provide
• a substantial amount of care
• on a regular basis.
• This care must be provided on an informal
  basis.

3
Caring in Northern Ireland

• 17.6 of adults in 2004 reported some caring
  responsibilities
• 44.3 cared for someone in the same household
• 47.9 cared outside their household
• 7.8 were doing both

4
Care in the Community?

• 45.4 are helping parents/in-laws
• 26.8 are helping spouses/partners
• 12.5 are helping other relatives
• 8.9 are caring for a child
• Only 6.3 are caring for friends, relatives or
  neighbours

5
Who is caring?

• 62 of carers are female
• 38 are male
• 25 of carers are aged 60 or over

6

• Carers Concerns
• About social health care staff
• About other patients of clients
• About other family members
• About allegations or investigations into their
  own behaviour
• About their own responses to stressful situations

7
Is caring stressful?

• Carers are twice as likely (17) as non-carers
  (9) to suffer from a great deal of worry or
  stress.
• Those caring for someone in the same household
  were more likely to suffer from a lot or a great
  deal of stress (54) than those caring for
  someone elsewhere (46) or non-carers (31).

8
Is carer stress a major cause of elder abuse?

• Evidence seems to suggest that where elder abuse
  occurs within caring relationship there is almost
  always
• Alcohol/substance misuse
• Previous history of abuse

9
Working with carers

• Carers as advocates
• Education and awareness
• Knowledge of processes
• Support
• Carers as potential perpetrators
• Never assume someone should care
• Proper assessment is critical

10
Working with carers

• Carers as potential victims
• Good assessment again is key
• Regularly reviewing all options
• Building trust

11
Valuing Carers

• Underlying principles
• real equal partners
• freely chosen
• life outside caring
• responsive services
• investment in carers