In language videos to inform ethnic communities about elder abuse

ECCV is pleased to announce it has been awarded a $60,000 grant from the Victoria Law Foundation to develop tailored community language videos to inform ethnic communities about elder abuse.

Australian researchers estimate that between 2% and 7% of older persons, over 65 years of age, in Australia experience mistreatment including neglect.

“We are very pleased to be awarded this grant. It will enable ECCV to deliver the multilingual videos that communities have been calling for, it’s an essential resource,” said ECCV Chairperson Joe Caputo OAM JP.

Elder abuse affects us all as a society and whilst there is no evidence that it occurs more within ethnic communities, ECCV has identified that elder abuse often goes unreported in ethnic communities and that there is a need for culturally responsive services.

ECCV’s three-year project (2012 – 2015) to prevent elder abuse in ethnic communities in partnership with Senior Rights Victoria and  the six  participating ethnic communities  (Chinese, Filipino, Greek, Macedonian, Serbian and Turkish) has already lead to the creation of several bilingual education resource kits for service providers and ethnic community groups.

Next year ECCV will develop and deliver community driven videos in response to reported low literacy levels identified by the participating communities.

“The videos will be useful to older people, their families and ethnic community members whose low literacy might be an obstacle for them to access written information,” said Mr Caputo.

The videos will feature specific case scenarios that reflect each community’s cultural context, how elder abuse is perceived and should be dealt with and will be available in the following community languages: Cantonese and Mandarin, Filipino, Greek, Macedonian, Serbian, Turkish and English.

“Older people from migrant backgrounds are less likely to seek help due to factors such as stigma, isolation and intergenerational conflict and not knowing that help is available for them and their family so these resources are much needed,” said Mr Caputo.

ECCV condemns elder abuse in all its forms. Neglect, physical and emotional abuse, mistreatment and financial exploitation might not be easily identified but they are all types of abuse.

“No older person should be subjected to any form of abuse,” said Mr Caputo.

ECCV encourages people who experience abuse to call the Seniors Rights Victoria helpline 1300 368 821 and report what happened even if they are not sure if it was abuse.