industry & policy
Older carers at risk too
National plan on elder abuse
should also focus on carers.
By Ara Cresswell
C
arers Australia joins with others working in the sector and
representing the interests of the aged in applauding the
announcement of a national plan to address elder abuse.
We acknowledge that family and friend carers are frequently
identified as the perpetrators of elder abuse. Sometimes the focus
is on carer negligence, which may occur because the carer is
disinclined to provide the level of care needed or because the
carer simply doesn’t have the information to understand the
standard of care they need to provide. In other cases, we hear of
financial abuse if the person being cared for is bullied or cajoled
into giving the carer access to their finances or because they
cannot manage their finances themselves. In other cases, physical
abuse, including sexual abuse, is perpetrated by family members.
However, it is important to remember that when we’re talking
about elder abuse, many carers are themselves aged – bearing
in mind that 36 per cent of all carers and 26 per cent of primary
carers are over the age of 65. Most are caring for a partner. Even if
they’re not caring for a partner but one of their children or another
relative, they are still at risk of abuse.
What is commonly overlooked is that carers themselves
are often the victims of abuse by the person they are caring
for. Twenty-five per cent of respondents to a 2015 Carers
Queensland survey of 571 carers admitted to being abused –
physically, financially or emotionally – by the person they are
caring for. Not all these carers will be caring for someone over
the age of 65, but many will. Many carers also admitted to
experiencing more than one type of abuse.
There are many reasons and they will vary by the type of abuse.
For example, practising emotional and psychological abuse may
simply be the outcome of becoming dependent upon a carer,
leading to frustration, embarrassment and denial about their
care needs. It can arise from the experience of chronic pain,
psychosocial disorders and dementia. In cases where an older carer
is caring for a younger person, the triggers are likely to be similar.
What the literature on abuse in caring relationships does
suggest – whether we are talking about abuse of a carer or of the
person being cared for – is that physical or mental abuse is much
more likely to take place if it is embedded in the relationship prior
to the caring situation.
Older carers who are abused continue to care for their abuser
for a number of reasons, some of which are shared by other
people who are locked into abusive situations:
∞ There is no alternative care or accommodation available other
than perhaps the person they care for moving to an aged care
home – which that person may not be prepared to contemplate
and which the carer might not be willing to contemplate either.
∞ The carer may be fully or partly financially dependent on
the perpetrator and cannot see a clear way to break this
dependence.
∞ The carer may not be able to contemplate the stress associated
with intervention services – especially in the case of physical
abuse.
∞ Loyalty and commitment to the person they care for may
prevent carers from reporting or addressing the abuse,
especially if it is linked to deteriorating capacity or behaviours
related to disability and not seen as intentional.
Just as is the case with people experiencing abuse in other age
groups and other situations, it is important for carers to have
services available to them that address their specific circumstances.
Such services are available both through carer support programs
and through other services in the community and the justice
system. However, carers may not be aware that this is the case.
We would hope and expect that the national plan to address
elder abuse focuses on carers as well as those being cared for –
both from the perspective of addressing the circumstances in
which a carer may commit abuse and the circumstances of the
carer being the victim of abuse. ■
Ara Cresswell is the chief executive of Carers Australia.
agedcareinsite.com.au 13