By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
Elder abuse is real, it’s happening in our communities and it’s on the rise as a result of the tough economic climate, warns Marieze Tarr, Executive Director of Desert Sun Counselling and Resource Centre.
Speaking at a fundraising and awareness BBQ hosted by OCU on Main St. Tarr said that from their own seniors programs as well as community support workers who work with physicians in both Osoyoos and Oliver, that “we certainly know that is happening right here in our communities.”
She said the event held last week ahead of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15 was aimed at raising awareness among society about what elder abuse is and what kinds of forms it can take.
She highlights that there is a misconception that elder abuse is physical. While a very small number of cases do involve physical abuse, the vast majority are psychological in nature largely involving manipulation and control.
“We’re talking more about family or friends sometimes taking control of a person.” It happens so subtly that the senior doesn’t even realize that it’s happening, Tarr says. “And then they start giving the person money, and then give them access to the bank account and then when they next look they have nothing.” In some cases seniors lose not only their life savings but their home as well, she adds.
“Sometimes they’ve been manipulated financially, and you know even sometimes when it comes to housing, things like that. So we just know that this is happening.” She adds that sometimes elders are not that aware of their rights as tenants and if they get evicted they don’t realize that it’s illegal, and that there’s recourse available.
Desert Sun is seeing more and more cases of abuse, the most since Tarr joined the organization seven years ago. “You can imagine, with the interest rates, inflation, everything like that, people are even more dependent on support,” she says.
Food insecurity is playing a key role as well with Desert Sun seeing a sharp rise in people seeking to access grocery cards and food banks. “And what is happening in the agriculture sector in our area, is actually making it more scary, she says, giving the example of the wine industry which will be okay this year in terms of having wine to sell, “but what is next year going to look like [when there’s little wine to sell],” she asks.
“There’s no fruit, no peaches, no apricots. What is that going to mean for people, for farm workers who rely on the income, they won’t have employment or not as much this summer as they normally do, which is going to make it harder for them to survive the winter.”
She highlights that while this doesn’t impact seniors directly, it does impact in many cases those who are looking after seniors or are involved in their lives.
Desert Sun runs various workshops tailored to seniors, including how they can keep themselves safe from abuse and also how to protect themselves from scams.
Tarr notes the increasing sophistication of phone and text messaging scams, with artificial intelligence (AI) now being used to target people.
“There’s all kinds of abuse so we just try to make sure that our clients, and then also the community at large that they are aware that elder abuse is real and it’s happening here, and we’re trying to make our seniors aware of what it looks like. It’s not just physical abuse it takes on many other forms,” she adds.
