New project to stop elder abuse

BY 2050 the world's population of senior citizens or elderly people would have grown to a ratio of two to every one child in society, according to Minister of Community Development and Gender Affairs Joan Yuille-Williams.

Yuille-Williams was at the time addressing the launch of a project called Stop Elder Abuse Now (SEAN) by the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition Against Domestic Violence at the Cascadia Hotel St Ann's yesterday. Yuille-Williams made reference to the Geriatric Adolescent Partnership Programme (GAPP), which was launched by her Ministry to bridge the generation gap between the young and old and to teach youths to love, care and respect their elders. The Minister pointed out that SEAN would be a support to the work being done by the government and she was looking forward to the day when SEAN was no longer needed "The day when the elderly would be treated the way they are supposed to be treated," she noted.

The SEAN project was first initiated in 2001 after several reports from groups, agencies and concerned individuals about the violence elderly people were exposed to from nursing homes, family members and the general public. The Coalition at SEAN would heighten public awareness of elder abuse in all its forms. They intend to launch a public education programme to inform the national community about responding to incidents of elder abuse and ways to access help. In addition, the project seeks to introduce training programmes for care-givers and other service providers to help them better understand the physical, social, psychological and spiritual needs of the elderly. Also addressing the function was Advisor to the Social Development Minister, Olton Felix, who said the Ministry was establishing a Division of Aging to look at policies and guidelines needed for dealing with the elderly.

The Coalition will begin training volunteers for the SEAN project on Saturday. They will also hold a national conference on elder abuse in September and visit secondary schools across the country to educate students on the importance of treating elders the right way.