There has been a curious lack of response to the revelation that an estimated 12,000 older people are subjected to various forms of abuse, mostly by their relatives. The report outlining the situation - Abuse, Neglect and Mistreatment of Older People - lay on the desk of the Minister for Health for a year before it was published quietly by the National Council on Ageing and Older People, the official body which commissioned the research.
Since details were published in this newspaper little has been heard on this topic from the plethora of politicians, opinion formers and lobby groups with which we in this country are so abundantly blessed. That is a pity. The authors of the report, Ms Anne O'Loughlin and Dr Joseph Duggan, have met and, where possible, have helped to get older people out of situations of abuse. In other words, they know what they are talking about.
It may be that the situation is too uncomfortable for us to want to confront it. The thought that this may happen to ourselves one day, or that things like this - mental cruelty, beating, starvation, neglect, theft, even sexual abuse - are being done by people like us is not an easy one to face. It is also a hidden problem. It happens in ordinary households behind closed doors. Generally speaking it is hospital staff, public health nurses and other social service professionals who realise what is going on.
The report mentions a study of 26 carers in North Dublin who had been in touch with a psychiatric service for older people. Of these, eight admitted to what the report calls "chronic verbal aggression" of the person they cared for. Six admitted to physical abuse. Four admitted to some form of neglect. The number of people surveyed, of course, is small and, if they were all in touch with a psychiatric service, the group is not representative of the population as a whole. But that doesn't alter the fact that these are uncomfortable findings.
That, it must be said at once, is not the only research on which this report is based. A great deal of work has gone into it and, indeed, the general findings in the report are consistent with the experience in Britain and other countries. If it is mainly health professionals, whether in the casualty department or in the home, who usually discover abuse, then it is vital that health professionals be aware of what to look out for and what to do next. The National Council on Ageing and Older People makes a practice of organising conferences in conjunction with the publication of reports and these conferences greatly raise awareness of problems among professionals.
But more is needed, as the report makes clear: inspection of public institutions for older people, currently subject to far less stringent monitoring than private nursing homes; guidelines for dealing with suspected cases of abuse of older people; a public education programme on the issue; a home nursing service and social work service for older people; more support and advice for carers of older people with dementia; and the immediate establishment of priorities and costings by the Department of Health and Children.