Good Morning. This is Diana from The Hong Kong Society for the Aged, to share the situation of elder abuse in Hong Kong. The Central Information System for Elder Abuse Cases of the Social Welfare Department received 318 reports in 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, 90 cases were reported. However, according to the World Health Organization, around one in six people aged 60 or above experienced some form of abuse in communities during the past year. The elderly population in Hong Kong in 2023 was around 1,570,000. It implies that more than 261,000 abuse cases may be overlooked.

Some elder people may not be aware of being abused, or some may actively or but being forced to keep silent on their misfortunes. The elder abuse victims may fear retaliation and worry that reporting the abuse may lead to even more severe mistreatment. And some may feel ashamed or blame themselves for the abuse and therefore they are reluctant to tell others what they have experienced. At the same time, the abusers often conceal their improprieties by controlling the victims’ social activities and interaction with outsiders. The elder people may have no chance to seek help, or may be threatened, to cover the truth. In this case, the needs of elderly people being abused are neglected and they keep suffering from mistreatment.

Elder abuse is defined as “a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring in any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person”. According to the Central Information System for Elder Abuse Cases, there are three major types of elder abuse that dominate the cases reported to the system. Physical abuse means physical injuries caused by acts of violence. It usually accounts for over 70 percent of the reported abuse cases. More than 10 percent of the cases fall into psychological abuse. It refers to the behaviour or attitudes towards an elderly person that endangers or impairs his or her psychological health, for example, insulting, scolding, isolation and intimidation. And the third one is financial abuse which contributes to around 5 to 10 percent of the cases. Some examples of financial abuse are taking away an elder’s money or transferring his or her assets without consent. Other types of elder abuse include neglect, abandonment and sexual abuse. Most abusers are spouses or intimate partners of the elderly person being abused. The causes of abuse are multifaceted and can include family stress, economic difficulties, caring stress and psychological issues faced by the abusers.

Professor Elsie Yan from the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University will share how the community and the government can help the situation.

Hi, this is Elsie. Diana talked about how common elder abuse is in our community, so what can we do about it?

First of all, it is important for each and every one of us to have a high sense of awareness of elder abuse. From our experience, elder abuse victims seldom seek help on their own and most cases which eventually received services were referred by people who had noticed the abuse. These include professionals, such as social workers, nurses and medical doctors, as well as lay persons such as concerned neighbours and friends, or security guards. It is important that we reach out to suspected victims proactively and offer them help.

To achieve this goal, it is essential that we all understand signs and symptoms of abuse. Some forms of abuse have apparent symptoms and could be easily picked up. Unexplained bruises and fractures could be symptoms of physical abuse; Recurrent urinary tract infection or sexually transmitted diseases may represent sexual abuse; Malnutrition or lack of necessary appliances such as glasses and dentures may indicate neglect; Other forms of elder abuse, however, may be more difficult to detect. Although financial exploitation has no obvious symptoms, we should be alert when there is a sudden transfer of funds from seniors’ bank accounts, or unpaid bills. Seniors suffering psychological abuse may be depressed and anxious, or socially withdrawn. If fellow citizens acquire a better understanding of elder abuse and step up to help suspected victims, we could be able to provide victims with timely intervention or prevent abuse from happening altogether. At the same time, seniors need to be aware of their own rights and be empowered to seek help as necessary.

In view of this, the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences launched the Happy Edward Project. This project was funded by the Lee Hys an Foundation. So far our project staff have identified more than 350 high risk cases from 2300 seniors. More than 100 cases have received our services which include one-on-one counselling, goal setting and empowerment exercise to increase victims’ readiness for change, health management, etc. Health and social professionals are in a very good position to help identify elder abuse cases. To support them, we provide targeted training to improve their knowledge and competence in handling elder abuse cases. Please join hands with us to combat elder abuse.

We would like to dedicate this song What if the world by Charmaine Fong to everyone.