The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

10 economist sun stoufiville tribune saturday oct 9 1999 economist sun stouffville tribune zero tolerance for elder abuse 58000 seniors in ontario are victims of abuse but york agencies are focused on ending the dilemma by joan ransberry staff writer ying grandma to a chair stripping her of her life savings and threaten ing to abandon her is not a scene from a movie v it happens in real life and much too often statistics show the provincial governmenreqently reported lmap8000 seniors are victims of abuse in pritafio today k butjfheamtrefror maureen hutson has her way yorkeegion will step the next century with azerb x tplerceapproach to elder abused r 4 toanpjibutplil verbal or financial abuse of the i elderly shplijd not be tolerated or overlooked the same goestor neglect and denial of seniors rightshutspri said 4svymejbissue of elder abuse has only ciie eye for about five years ifiemcare community has known about it formuch longer hutson said she is a healthcare provider at stpuffviuesgreeri gables manor and has some chilfingtales to tell li hutepn talks of seniors whowhile living with relatives are itied to chairs bound in bed locked in rooms treated like children roughhandled hit yelled at and sexually abused i- some seniors have their money stolen are denied affection and have long lost the chance to make decisions and too mahy seniors are heectedhutson said 3 theyredepriyed of basic needs of have no familysupport or both the elderly are at a higher ritheyeiil they have demen- tia of other cognitive impairment cant speak for themselves or do for themselves still the abuse can be hard to detect because they are unable to explain themselves huteori said symptoms of abuse can be mistaken for agerelated changes in behavr iouroriuness bruises could be the result of abuse or ffohia fall or from poor peculation she r sffi socialxwthdr could be a response to abuse or from depression otgriefcjvl forgemessbfcpnfusipn could be abuse or ioss of possessions r no incidents of abuse have been found at green gables administrator kathleen szela said and staff and the residents families are staffphotossjoerp witteveen green gables resident myrtle robinson right enjoys a spot of tea with healthhcaie frontline worker maureen hutson left and administrator kathleen szela vs reminded its administration takesa zero fel- j erarice approach to elder abuse v weve talked to our staff about it they know what abuse is we make it clear to everyone to educate staff about elder abuse and howtp detect and prevent it szela recently invited police officers tavisit the ninth line facility to screen a video pnfthe subject hutson keeps abreast olffie sensitive subject byservihg on a york region commit tee set uptp de with elder abuse estabfished by cpnunuiutycaf e access centre a nonprofit agency the fourmenu bercorrunitteestrivestp bring elder abuse put in metppen wi eliminating the crime abusefeaybehardto detect hutson said- stl ylctirris areafraid to report abuse for fear of further abuse or being taken from their homes she said v j r the elderly have to be observed if we s suspected it at green gables we wouldnt leave thejesidents alone with the suspected abuser wed ericouragethe visit to take place in a cpmfnpn arealor wed make surea staff member is in the room at all times wed observe we do hot accusebut wedo take- appropriate action intervention is part of the process the ccac hasset up a tool pacge aifnedat tar- getmg abuse it ihdu hpwtp check a suspected abusecasfemith- outmakirigitibvious i vtdder al abuse doesnt sfopttgets worse hutson said a comprehensive strategy aimed at pre- venting elder abuse has just been launched by the i ontario government more than four per cent of ontarios i 14 million seniors fall victim to various forms 1 of abuse ranging from fraud to physical and emotional abuse reported mpp cam jackson minister of longterm carxeftunchecked the number of victims could jump to 120000 by 2021 abuse of the elderly is uriacptie arid mcbhsistentwt province where pur seniors are safe ageyrith dignity and enjoy a high quafityof life he said as ontarios senior population grows an even greater number of me elderly couldfall victim v c r iw afetaking action todayjto reduce the potehtiai of elder abusetbrribrrbw jackson said o there are trtairi situations which can lead to abuse hutson said t they include a previous lustpry of farriily abuse financial problems inadequate hoiis- ihg chrohic health problems unable to cope jswith loolgrihbme and family aiid car- ing fot me elderly pr analcbhplpf drug pro wfrn she sd- oneiriajor facteir inabusiye simatibri is that mecaryerfnay not understand the changes that go along with the aging process szela said studies show financial abuse accounts for 62 per cent of cases in ontario while verbal arid physical abuse accounts for 35 per cent also 10 per centof the abused are victims of neglect if the abuse is taking place in a hospital or nursing ome setting it may be because staff may feel under stress overworked and underpaid or it may be a staff not trained in looking after the elderly hutson said people who work with the elderly need to be educated in understanding the behaviour of the elderly she said we are taking action today to reduce the potential of elder abuse tomorrow they need to know about anger aggres sion crying what to do if someone doesnt want to talk doesnt want to eat has no interest and wants to die if abuse is suspected dont accuse unless youve actually witnessed it hutson 7 advised then it needs to be reported immediately before calling in the authorities try riot to use the word abuse when talking to the suspected abuser use wordslike there might be a better way or this might be a solution the abuser may be more willing to talk hutson said if abuse is susperted there are a number of options talk to a doctor nurse clef- gypersonpolice officer a crisiscentre work er a seniors centrecounseilor or a support group and in york region the ccac can be called the province is also offering help vulnerable adults can cauihfoabilityatl- 8006559092 oractim support line at 1- 8885792888 or in the case of telephone v fraud call seniorbusters at 18884958501 pioneering work to prevent elder abuse earned dr elizabeth podnieks the order of canada she carried out the first national survey on elder abuse alerted governments health care institutions and social service organizations to me dimensions of the prpb- lerri of elderly people at risk podnieks is now working with the province with a group called the round table dealing with a comprehensive study of welder abuse its findings will be ribleased next year as well the province is also launching a i strategy including ia public awareness carn- paiign development of training programs for frbritrline providers and the development of local service response protocol for applica tions across ontario bhqctober 5th 1990 dr h h zeroftb niany mousands of patients walidu8 staff began providing now it is time to sararuc you professional eye care and eye very much to eaghandeverys wearpptbmetric services for the onerof you individ residents of markhamunionville tremendous support ahdlloyalty stouffville and surrounding areas over me past nine years simply we could not have done it without you we hopi you have been totally delighted with our eye gare at any- time if you are not for any reason at all dr walji would perscfllly like toknqy anid bringxybitt concern to complete satisfactiohi telephone ivnteqf email me injbxtyear wecelebratea decade of prof essibnal eye care jiii ipur community joinustp celebrate a new decadejand a new century we welcome new patients arid we love to see our present patients whenever you visit us agiiri many many thanks for your support arid loyalty dr hb walji r 6633 hwy 7 at ninth line si05eyesj3937 website etewaljicom emaibitewaljierwaljlcom jvanirali jaumufut ifcitij in