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Resolution hosts elder abuse workshop Northern News Services Published Monday, December 5, 2011
The hamlet held its first ever elder abuse workshop at Our Great Elders Facility on Nov. 29 and 30. Therese Villeneuve, president of the Deninu Ku'e Seniors' Society, said the community's elders wanted a public forum to ask questions and voice concerns about the oft-neglected subject. "The issue of elder abuse has been out in the open now for the last year and people were asking to have a workshop so that we could discuss it and find ways of addressing it," she said. Villeneuve said about 20 elders attended the two-day workshop, which was hosted by the senior society and facilitated by Angus Mackay, director of educational programs for older adults with the NWT Seniors' Society. Mackay, who participated in similar events in Hay River and Fort Simpson earlier this year, said the workshops help to raise awareness about the very real problem of elder abuse. A report released in February 2011, which surveyed 528 adults older than 50 in 11 NWT communities, found 71 per cent of respondents considered elder abuse a problem in their community. It also found 47 per cent of those surveyed didn't know how to protect themselves from abuse and 36 per cent didn't know where to go for help. The report, published by the NWT Seniors' Society, also stated elder abuse was likely more prevalent than the numbers suggested, as "very few incidents of abuse are reported." At the workshop, Mackay told elders in attendance what the profiles of abusers - and targets of abuse - look like and how to recognize the warning signs of abuse. He also advised how community members could approach an elder they suspect might be a victim of abuse. Mackay cited financial, verbal and psychological abuse as the most prevalent forms of mistreatment in the North. Villeneuve agreed, saying elders can often be taken advantage of by family members who want some of their old age pension cheques. "One elder said, 'they love us for a few days when we get our pension cheques and then they forget about us'," she said. Mackay added the issue recently escalated after residential school settlements were paid out. "A lot of older people had access to a lot of money and, in some instances, there was abuse there - people were inappropriately getting money out of the elders by various means," he said. Villeneuve said there are other, more subtle, forms of abuse that could come from government departments and various decision-makers. Many elders in the community were also not happy about recent decisions to curb gambling by limiting bingos to weekly events, she said. "We used to have bingos here every day, where elders used to get together to socialize and have fun. These people are 70 or 80 years old; they must have had a good life to live this long. How can you take that away from them?" she asked. "That has created a real isolation problem for some elders as well." Mackay said elders in Fort Resolution also raised concerns about the way Our Great Elders Facility now operates. "Originally, it was built as a place where older people could go and live and, quite a number of years ago, it was changed. There is nobody staying here 24 (hours a day), seven (days a week) anymore. It is now a day program for older adults," he said. "They want the government to change their minds and make it, at least, a safe shelter for older adults." Mackay said that change would go a long way towards making elders in Fort Resolution feel safer. "For anybody who felt unsafe and insecure in their home for whatever reason, this could be a place for them to come," he said. Villeneuve said a community network support group will be established as a result of the workshop, adding it will provide a place for elders to talk about abuse. "Right now, we don't have a safe place here in Fort Resolution. If elders are abused, they have no place to go," she said. Villeneuve said she was disappointed there wasn't more community participation at the workshop. "Community wellness and the local RCMP were invited, but they chose not to come," she said. A group from the RCMP in Yellowknife could not fly into the community on Nov. 30 due to bad weather.
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