South Australians are being urged to consider how they treat the older people in their lives as part of a new media campaign launched on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (15 June).
Director of the Office for Ageing Well, Cassie Mason, said the Elder Abuse Prevention campaign aimed to raise awareness of the link between ageism and the abuse and mistreatment of older people.
“The campaign reminds the community that older people have rights – the right to make their own decisions, to work, be safe, and be treated with dignity and respect,” Ms Mason said.
“It highlights that when others assume an older person cannot do something and exclude them because of their age, it makes them feel invisible and sad,” she said.
Ms Mason said the campaign included a series of videos that would feature on digital and social media, radio, print and shopping centre screens around regional and metropolitan South Australia.
“It follows concerning findings in several recent studies including the 2021 National Elder Abuse Prevalence study, which found one in six older Australians surveyed experienced some form of abuse or mistreatment, and a South Australian study that found around half of older South Australians surveyed did not feel valued in their community,” she said.
“Ageism stems from negative views of older people and the ageing process and this can lead to mistreatment, neglect and other forms of abuse.
“This new campaign underscores this and urges people to reflect on how they treat the older people in their life so we can help to address the issue before it leads to abuse.”
Concerns about elder abuse situations can be directed to the Adult Safeguarding Unit on 1800 372 310.
The campaign videos can be viewed on the SA Health website at this PS News link.
