Independent Age have published a new leaflet to help older people, their families and carers recognise the signs of abuse and understand where to go for help. The charity grew concerned about the issue after realising their helpline was regularly receiving worried calls from elderly people and their families about the issue. 

The leaflet, called ‘Staying in control when you’re older’, provides practical information on different types of abuse, how to spot it, who is at risk and where to go for help if the individual or someone they know is being abused.

The charity are keen to draw attention to the many different types of abuse, with the most common being neglect and omission (32%), followed by physical abuse (27%), according to the Health & Social Care Information Centre’s (HSCIC) latest annual report on safeguarding adults, published in October 2015. 

According to the report, safeguarding referrals were made relating to 103,900 adults in England in 2014/15. The report also found that the most common place for alleged cases of abuse was in a person’s own home (43%), with the second most common place being in a care home (36%), and over a third (36%) involving a care worker. The majority of referrals (64%) involved older people aged 65 and over. 

Lucy Harmer, Director of Services at Independent Age, said: “We believe that no-one should suffer abuse, especially when they’re in an environment where they ought to feel safe. There needs to be a zero tolerance approach to all types of abuse. That’s why we’ve introduced the new free ‘Staying in control when you’re older’ leaflet for older people, their families and carers.”

The new free leaflet is suitable for older people themselves or those who work with them and can be ordered in bulk by healthcare and social care professionals.