OTGV #48 - Elder Abuse
Date of Broadcast: 16/02/04
Family violence.
Most of the times, the victims don't have a voice.
If they do, they don't to use it because they don't wish to see bad things happening to their loved ones.
So the suffering goes on in silence.
Hi Welcome to On the Grapevine with me Chong Ching Liang as I explore the dark social realm of elder abuse.
Most abused elderly Singaporeans are over eighty years of age.
Eight out of ten cases involved an abuser who's related to the victim.
And the average annual count is a hundred cases.
Will the statistics get worse for a graying Singapore?
Community Development and Sports Ministry, Director of Elderly Development, Tong Min Way muses the answer.
"There's probably a lot more out there in the community that we don't know about. Or, people don't want to report it. It's very difficult to say right now whether it's going to increase or decrease. But if you do an international survey, I suppose that as the number of elderly does grow, care-giving needs are going to increase as well. As you know families are getting smaller in Singapore, you have children looking after your elderly parents. You might get a tendency for more families to be at risk."
Minister of State for MCDS, Chan Soo Sen suspects the current annual average figures mask a bigger problem.
But this under-reporting of cases of elder abuse isn't unique to Singapore.
Keynote Speaker to the national conference on family violence, Paula Mixson says even in the US, the actual number of abuse cases is hard to collate.
"There was a study a few years ago, it was 1998 I think, and it estimates that five times more what is out there than what is known. And that may be an under-estimate."
Elders want to keep their family's dirty linen from fluttering in public.
Neighbours and witnesses also tend look the other way, thinking it’s not their right to interfere.
This is something that MCDS' Director of Social Welfare Ang Bee Lian wants to change.
"We want the service providers who are in touch with the ground to also spread the message to alert people to refer. We like to believe that people don't refer because they don't know who to refer to, where to refer to. So we have to educate people, give them the benefit of doubt that they want to do something. It's not so much that people willfully want to turn a deaf ear on these things."
Is it possible to enact a law to penalise bystanders for non-action when they see an elderly person being abuse and say nothing?
Geriatric Consulting and training expert Paula Mixson says it won't work.
"In Texas, we have a law that can prosecute someone for failure to report. But to my knowledge, no one has ever been prosecuted. Just having a law in the book doesn't mean you can help them. I think it is more important that people realised the elder protection team is there to help, not to label someone as an abuser. It's very important how people see you because we don't get anywhere by blaming. When things are bad enough to be prosecuted, they will be prosecuted."
But Ms Ang cautions that a hard-nose approach won't be successful.
"When you approach an elderly person to say 'I help you report', you can know the answer. Right?, I don't have to tell you. You will know what the answer is: 'Nothing is wrong, don't da da da...'. Enter gently, engage the elderly person, you will get the information to help the older person to accept help. And I think that's some of the soft skills that people need at the ground. Very often we like to do the harsh approach. Report! Report! And the poor person is so scared, you know?"
Ms Yee-Chow Choy Yin is the Director of TRANS Centre, an inter-disciplinary outfit set up to deal with issues of familial violence.
She says the family must not be excluded if a sustainable solution is to be reached.
"What we found helpful was not to just label the family. And we need to look more holistically into what is happening in these families. What are the concerns? Concerns about elderly not being fed, are there concerns of financial constraints? Our work is very much to work with the family as a whole to improve things, to improve relationships unless it is really life-and death [situation]. In our Singapore culture, most elderly still want to live with their children. Empowering the family in the care of the elderly, coming in with the appropriate community resources, will actually help to alleviate some of these stress, make care-giving a little bit easier."
Care giving.
It isn't easy in a country where different branches of geriatric or eldercare services for those who don't qualify for welfare has yet to catch up with the demographic curve.
In most major public hospitals, geriatric care or medicine for the elderly are either fledgling or inadequately staffed.
Information on home care assistance programme to help family members care for their sick elderly at home is available in the MCDS website.
But those who aren't internet savvy may not know how to get the information.
However, this lack of help should not translate to frustration leading to the abuse of an elderly.
MCDS hopes that Singaporeans will, when they think their back is to the wall in handling their elderly loved ones, turn to them or affiliated organisations such as TRANS centre for help.
This is Chong Ching Liang for Newsradio 938.
===============================================
Newsradio 938 (now 938Live)
http://www.938live.sg/
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
www.mcys.gov.sg
Trans Centre
www.transcentre.org.sg
Family violence.
Most of the times, the victims don't have a voice.
If they do, they don't to use it because they don't wish to see bad things happening to their loved ones.
So the suffering goes on in silence.
Hi Welcome to On the Grapevine with me Chong Ching Liang as I explore the dark social realm of elder abuse.
Most abused elderly Singaporeans are over eighty years of age.
Eight out of ten cases involved an abuser who's related to the victim.
And the average annual count is a hundred cases.
Will the statistics get worse for a graying Singapore?
Community Development and Sports Ministry, Director of Elderly Development, Tong Min Way muses the answer.
"There's probably a lot more out there in the community that we don't know about. Or, people don't want to report it. It's very difficult to say right now whether it's going to increase or decrease. But if you do an international survey, I suppose that as the number of elderly does grow, care-giving needs are going to increase as well. As you know families are getting smaller in Singapore, you have children looking after your elderly parents. You might get a tendency for more families to be at risk."
Minister of State for MCDS, Chan Soo Sen suspects the current annual average figures mask a bigger problem.
But this under-reporting of cases of elder abuse isn't unique to Singapore.
Keynote Speaker to the national conference on family violence, Paula Mixson says even in the US, the actual number of abuse cases is hard to collate.
"There was a study a few years ago, it was 1998 I think, and it estimates that five times more what is out there than what is known. And that may be an under-estimate."
Elders want to keep their family's dirty linen from fluttering in public.
Neighbours and witnesses also tend look the other way, thinking it’s not their right to interfere.
This is something that MCDS' Director of Social Welfare Ang Bee Lian wants to change.
"We want the service providers who are in touch with the ground to also spread the message to alert people to refer. We like to believe that people don't refer because they don't know who to refer to, where to refer to. So we have to educate people, give them the benefit of doubt that they want to do something. It's not so much that people willfully want to turn a deaf ear on these things."
Is it possible to enact a law to penalise bystanders for non-action when they see an elderly person being abuse and say nothing?
Geriatric Consulting and training expert Paula Mixson says it won't work.
"In Texas, we have a law that can prosecute someone for failure to report. But to my knowledge, no one has ever been prosecuted. Just having a law in the book doesn't mean you can help them. I think it is more important that people realised the elder protection team is there to help, not to label someone as an abuser. It's very important how people see you because we don't get anywhere by blaming. When things are bad enough to be prosecuted, they will be prosecuted."
But Ms Ang cautions that a hard-nose approach won't be successful.
"When you approach an elderly person to say 'I help you report', you can know the answer. Right?, I don't have to tell you. You will know what the answer is: 'Nothing is wrong, don't da da da...'. Enter gently, engage the elderly person, you will get the information to help the older person to accept help. And I think that's some of the soft skills that people need at the ground. Very often we like to do the harsh approach. Report! Report! And the poor person is so scared, you know?"
Ms Yee-Chow Choy Yin is the Director of TRANS Centre, an inter-disciplinary outfit set up to deal with issues of familial violence.
She says the family must not be excluded if a sustainable solution is to be reached.
"What we found helpful was not to just label the family. And we need to look more holistically into what is happening in these families. What are the concerns? Concerns about elderly not being fed, are there concerns of financial constraints? Our work is very much to work with the family as a whole to improve things, to improve relationships unless it is really life-and death [situation]. In our Singapore culture, most elderly still want to live with their children. Empowering the family in the care of the elderly, coming in with the appropriate community resources, will actually help to alleviate some of these stress, make care-giving a little bit easier."
Care giving.
It isn't easy in a country where different branches of geriatric or eldercare services for those who don't qualify for welfare has yet to catch up with the demographic curve.
In most major public hospitals, geriatric care or medicine for the elderly are either fledgling or inadequately staffed.
Information on home care assistance programme to help family members care for their sick elderly at home is available in the MCDS website.
But those who aren't internet savvy may not know how to get the information.
However, this lack of help should not translate to frustration leading to the abuse of an elderly.
MCDS hopes that Singaporeans will, when they think their back is to the wall in handling their elderly loved ones, turn to them or affiliated organisations such as TRANS centre for help.
This is Chong Ching Liang for Newsradio 938.
===============================================
Newsradio 938 (now 938Live)
http://www.938live.sg/
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
www.mcys.gov.sg
Trans Centre
www.transcentre.org.sg
posted by CHONG Ching-liang | 12:09 PM
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