Every year, on June 15th, communities around the world come together to observe World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD). This global initiative aims to bring attention to the social, economic, and cultural factors that contribute to the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older adults worldwide.
Addressing elder abuse requires collective action. We are hoping you will join us in raising awareness, preventing abuse, and providing support to those affected.
Why focus on older victims of abuse?
All older adults deserve to age with safety, dignity, and care, yet research indicates that an estimated 5 million older adults experience abuse, neglect, or exploitation each year.[1] The issue is becoming more urgent as the U.S. population of older adults is rapidly growing. By 2030, all baby boomers will be age 65 or older [2] and by 2060, there will be about 94.7 million older adults, more than twice as many in 2010. As America ages, the rates of elder abuse will undoubtedly increase.
Unfortunately, many older victims do not have access to the resources and support they need. It is critical for all organizations and systems to rethink how they will provide services and support to this growing population of older adults.
To honor World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL) is pleased to re-release a series of information sheets, first published in 2013. We updated this series with new information and resources. Our aim is to provide individuals and organizations with a better understanding of abuse in later life and elder abuse and how abuse impacts older survivors. We also hope that these resource sheets will equip individuals and organizations with best practices and strategies to support older survivors’ unique needs.
This 2023 series includes the following:
- 1: An Overview of Elder Abuse: A Growing Problem – An introduction to the issue of elder abuse, including its definition, dynamics, forms, risk factors, and prevalence.
- 2: An Overview of Abuse in Later Life – A comprehensive discussion of abuse in later life and an explanation of the variables the term takes into consideration.
- 3: Unique Challenges in Abuse in Later Life Cases – An analysis of various challenges that often arise when working with older survivors.
- 4: Supporting Survivors of Abuse in Later Life – A series of strategies to consider when working with older victims.
- 5: Working Together to Effectively Address Abuse in Later Life – Ideas for identifying, engaging, and building meaningful collaborative partnerships to address abuse in later life in your community.
We hope you find these resource sheets useful and that you share them widely with your colleagues, professional partners and members, and grantees.
For additional information about abuse in later life, please visit NCALL online at www.ncall.us or contact a member of our team at ncall@ncall.us
[1] The Elder Justice Roadmap, A Stakeholder Initiative to Respond to an Emerging Health, Justice, Financial and Social Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/file/852856/download.
[2] U.S. Census Bureau. (2019). By 2030, All baby boomers will be age 65 or older.
This project was supported by Grant 15JOVW-21-GK-02196-MUMU awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this webinar are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.