The focus for April's Meet and Mingle was a talk on Elder Abuse presented by Benalla policewoman Sergeant J Lamond.
Sergeant Lamond said the topic was highlighted by the 2015 Victorian Royal Commission into family violence. As detailed in the 2008 Family Violence Protection act, family violence is any behaviour that controls or dominates a family member and causes them to fear for their own or other family member's safety or well-being.
It can include physical, sexual, psychological, emotional or economic abuse and any behaviour that causes a child to hear, witness or be exposed to the effects of that behaviour.
Types of elder abuse include abandonment or a carer deserting an older person, financial abuse, refusal or failure to take care of an elder, healthcare abuse, where a medical professional over or under prescribes medications or makes detrimental decisions about an elder's health, and physical, verbal and non verbal psychological abuse involving restraint or confinement against one's will.
In a 2021 survey, one in six older Australians reported abuse in the previous year but only one third of those sought help.
In 2020 4.2m Australians were 65 or over and by 2031 that number is expected to be about 5.7m. Those in the 85-year-old plus bracket, are expected to increase from 1.9 percent in 2013, to 4.2percent of the population by 2053.
Sergeant Lamond said the topic was highlighted by the 2015 Victorian Royal Commission into family violence. As detailed in the 2008 Family Violence Protection act, family violence is any behaviour that controls or dominates a family member and causes them to fear for their own or other family member's safety or well-being.
It can include physical, sexual, psychological, emotional or economic abuse and any behaviour that causes a child to hear, witness or be exposed to the effects of that behaviour.
Types of elder abuse include abandonment or a carer deserting an older person, financial abuse, refusal or failure to take care of an elder, healthcare abuse, where a medical professional over or under prescribes medications or makes detrimental decisions about an elder's health, and physical, verbal and non verbal psychological abuse involving restraint or confinement against one's will.
In a 2021 survey, one in six older Australians reported abuse in the previous year but only one third of those sought help.
In 2020 4.2m Australians were 65 or over and by 2031 that number is expected to be about 5.7m. Those in the 85-year-old plus bracket, are expected to increase from 1.9 percent in 2013, to 4.2percent of the population by 2053.
David Palmer
We are having Kathryn McQualter, a Dietitian from Benalla Health and Gateway Health , to speak on Healthy Eating and the influence of Climate Change on Eating Habits at the next Meet and Mingle which will be held on Wednesday15th May 2024 at 10am in Room 1. All welcome.
Margaret Jenkins
Margaret Jenkins
