Awareness Raising
The Surrey Safeguarding Adults Board continues to lead and co-ordinate communication and engagement activities through awareness raising and below are some key events and campaigns. We hope that the materials and information will help provide key information of each subject.
There are a range of available resources, tools, guides, leaflets and poster which aim to provide you with additional information on different aspects of safeguarding to assist professionals and ensure their practice is effective.
With help from our colleagues within Adult Social Care – you can find our newly developed Easy read leaflets
In alignment with Safeguarding Adults Week, the SSAB held a virtual conference which designed to help individuals from frontline practitioners to senior managers understand an a variety of adult safeguarding topics, providing an opportunity for partners to refresh their commitment to adult safeguarding and grow their networks. A significant outcome of the conference was the ability to highlight the 4 key priorities within our strategic plan.
To watch the highlights of our conference, you can watch all of the speaker sessions on the SSAB website
The Citizens Advice Scams awareness month – Citizens Advice is aimed to create a network of confident and alert consumers who know what to do when they spot a scam.
Help citizens advice spread the message that scams are crimes that can happen to anyone and that we can all take a stand to help stop them. There are actions we can all take to report them, share stories and raise awareness of scams to safeguard ourselves and others.
We will be supporting the scams awareness campaign using virtual methods, so please look out for our newsletter and social media posts.
Surrey Police have teamed up with national police forces across the county to launched Operation Signature
A short film to help protect vulnerable victims of fraud by Sussex Police.
A short film to spot the warning signs of fraud and scams by Sussex Police.
Useful links:
Surrey Police – Operation Signature
Useful Resources:
Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. It also helps people who don’t think of themselves as having caring responsibilities to identify as carers and access much-needed support.
Add your voice today to show your support for unpaid carers: Home | Carers Week
They need to be recognised for the difficulties they are experiencing, respected for all they are doing, and provided with information, support and understanding.
There are around 6.5 million people in the UK are carers, looking after a parent, partner, child or friend. A carer is someone who provides unpaid care and support to a family member or friend who has a disability, illness, mental health problem or who needs extra help as they grow older.
Join in the conversation online using #CarersWeek.
Follow us on Twitter @SurreySAB
What is a carer?
A carer is someone who provides unpaid care and support to a family member or friend who need help with their day to day living due to a disability, mental or physical illness, substance misuse issue, or who needs extra help as they grow older.
For some taking on a caring role can be sudden; someone in your family has an accident or your child is born with a disability.
For others, caring responsibilities can grow gradually over time: your parents can’t manage on their own any longer; your partner’s or your child’s mental or physical health gradually worsens.
How can caring affect you?
The amount and type of support that carers provide varies considerably. It can range from a few hours a week, such as picking up prescriptions and preparing meals, to providing emotional or personal care day and night.
Carers can help with personal things like getting someone dressed, helping them to the loo, helping them move about or administering their medication, they can also help with things like shopping, laundry, cleaning, cooking, filling in forms or managing money.
But without the right support caring can have a significant impact. Evidence shows that caring can cause ill health, poverty and social isolation.
Caring is something that will affect each and every one of us in our lifetime, whether we become a carer, or need care ourselves.
Useful links:
Surrey and Borders Partnership
Surrey County Council – Support for Carers
Surrey Safeguarding Adults Board Guidance leaflets:
Elder abuse awareness day takes place of the 15th June every year. The day aims to focus global attention on the problem of physical, emotional, and financial abuse of elders.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 we are unable to hold any group session but would hope that by joining our partner agencies we are able to promote Elder Abuse day via our social media platforms.
What is elder abuse and neglect?
Elder abuse includes physical, emotional, or sexual harm inflicted upon an older adult, their financial exploitation, or neglect of their welfare by people who are directly responsible for their care. Research indicates that almost half a million people aged over 65 will experience some form of abuse or neglect.
As older adults become more physically frail, they’re less able to take care of themselves or stand up to bullying. Older adults who have mental or physical ailments and may not see or hear as well or think as clearly as they used to, are more vulnerable to unscrupulous people taking advantage of them.
Elder abuse tends to take place where they live: where their abusers are often adult children, other family members or in long-term care facilities.
If you suspect that an elderly person is at risk from a neglectful or overwhelmed caregiver, or being preyed upon financially, it’s important to speak up. Everyone deserves to live in safety, with dignity and respect and free from abuse and neglect.
Types of elder abuse
Abuse of elders takes many different forms, some involving intimidation or threats against the elderly, some involving neglect, and others involving financial trickery. The most common are:
Physical abuse – The non-accidental use of force against an elderly person that results in physical pain, injury, or impairment. Such abuse includes not only physical assaults such as hitting or shoving but the inappropriate use of drugs, restraints, or confinement.
Emotional abuse – The treatment of an older adult in ways that cause emotional or psychological pain or distress, including:
- Intimidation through yelling or threats
- Humiliation and ridicule
- Habitual blaming or scapegoating
- Ignoring the elderly person
- Isolating an elder from friends or activities
- Terrorizing or menacing the elderly person
Sexual abuse – Contact with an elderly person without their consent. Such contact can involve physical sex acts, but activities such as showing an elderly person pornographic material, forcing the person to watch sex acts, or forcing the elder to undress are also considered sexual elder abuse.
Elder neglect – Failure to fulfill a care taking obligation. This constitutes more than half of all reported cases of elder abuse. It can be intentional or unintentional, based on factors such as ignorance or denial that an elderly charge needs as much care as they do.
Financial exploitation – The unauthorized use of an elderly person’s funds or property, either by a caregiver or an outside scam artist. An unscrupulous caregiver might:
- Misuse an elder’s personal checks, credit cards, or accounts
- Steal cash, income checks, or household goods
- Forge the elder’s signature
- Engage in identity theft
Typical scams that target elders include:
- Announcement of a “prize” that the elderly person has won but must pay money to claim
- Phony charities
- Investment fraud
Warning signs of elder abuse
Signs of elder abuse can be difficult to recognise or easily mistaken for symptoms of dementia or a person’s frailty.
Frequent arguments or tension between the caregiver and the elderly person or changes in the personality or behaviour in the elder can be broad signals of elder abuse. If you suspect abuse, but aren’t sure, you can look for clusters of the following warning signs.
Physical abuse warning signs:
- Unexplained signs of injury, such as bruises, welts, or scars
- Broken bones, sprains, or dislocations
- A report of drug overdose or an apparent failure to take medication regularly
- Broken eyeglasses or frames
- Signs of being restrained
Emotional abuse warning signs:
- Threatening, belittling, or controlling caregiver behaviour
- Behaviour from the elder that mimics dementia, such as rocking, sucking, or mumbling to themselves
Sexual abuse warning signs:
- Bruises around breasts or genitals
- Unexplained vaginal or anal bleeding
- Torn, stained, or bloody underclothing
Elder neglect or self-neglect warning signs:
- Unusual weight loss, malnutrition, dehydration
- Untreated physical problems, such as bed sores
- Unsanitary living conditions: dirt, bugs, soiled bedding and clothes
- Being left dirty or unbathed
- Unsuitable clothing or covering for the weather
- Unsafe living conditions
- Desertion of the elder at a public place
Financial exploitation warning signs:
- Significant withdrawals from the elder’s accounts
- Sudden changes in the elder’s financial condition
- Items or cash missing from their household
- Suspicious changes in wills, power of attorney, titles, and policies
- Addition of names to their signature card/ missing card
- Financial activity that they couldn’t have undertaken, such as an ATM withdrawal when the account holder is bedridden
- Unnecessary services, goods, or subscriptions
Healthcare fraud or abuse warning signs
- Evidence of overmedication or under-medication
- Evidence of inadequate care when bills are paid in full
- Problems with the care facility: poorly trained, poorly paid, or insufficient staff; crowding; inadequate responses to questions about care
Risk factors for elder abuse
It’s difficult to take care of an elder who has many different needs, and it’s difficult to be elderly when age brings with it infirmities and dependence. Both the demands of care giving and the needs of the elder can create situations in which abuse is more likely to occur.
Many nonprofessional caregivers – spouses, adult children, other relatives and friends find taking care of an elder to be satisfying and enriching. But the responsibilities and demands of caregiving, which escalate as the elder’s condition deteriorates, can also cause significant stress. The stress of elder care can lead to mental and physical health problems that leave caregivers burned out, impatient, and more susceptible to neglecting or lashing out at the elders in their care.
In addition to the caregiver’s inability to manage stress, other risk factors for elder abuse include:
- Depression in the caregiver
- Lack of support from other potential caregivers
- The caregiver’s perception that taking care of the elder is burdensome and without emotional reward
- Substance abuse by the caregiver
- The intensity of the elderly person’s illness or dementia
- Social isolation – the elder and caregiver are alone together almost all the time
- The elder’s role, at an earlier time, as an abusive parent or spouse
- A history of domestic violence in the home
- The elder’s own tendency toward verbal or physical aggression
Even caregivers in institutional settings can experience stress at levels that lead to elder abuse. Nursing home staff may be prone to elder abuse if they lack training, have too many responsibilities, are unsuited to care giving, or work under poor conditions.
Preventing elder abuse and neglect
If you’re a caregiver to an elderly person and feel you are in danger of hurting or neglecting them, help and support are available. Perhaps you’re having trouble controlling your anger and find yourself screaming louder and louder or lashing out at the person in your care? Or other people have expressed concern with your behaviour or the tension between the two of you? Or maybe you simply feel emotionally disconnected or overwhelmed by the daily needs of the elderly person in your care? Recognizing that you have a problem is the biggest step to getting help and preventing abuse.
As a caregiver, the following steps can help you prevent elder abuse or neglect:
- Take immediate steps to relieve stress and burnout. Stress is a major contributor to elder abuse and neglect.
- Request help from friends, relatives, or local respite care agencies or find an adult day-care programme. Every caregiver needs to take regular breaks from the stress of caring for an elder and to attend to their own needs, if only for a couple of hours. Surrey County Council – Carer support
- Seek help for depression. Family caregivers are especially at risk for depression, but there are plenty of things you can do to boost your mood and outlook.
- Find a support group for caregivers of the elderly. Sharing your concerns and experiences with others facing the same challenges can help relieve the isolation you may be feeling as a caregiver. It can also be a great place to gain valuable tips and insight into caring for an elder. Action for Carers – Surrey
- Get help for any substance abuse issues. It’s never easy, but there are plenty of actions you can take to address drug or alcohol abuse. Healthy Surrey – Drug and Alcohol information
If you’re a concerned friend or family member, the following can also help to prevent abuse of an elderly person.
- Call and visit as often as you can, helping the elder to see you as a trusted confidante.
- Offer to stay with the elder so the caregiver can have a break – on a regular basis, if possible.
- Monitor the elder’s medications to ensure the amounts being taken correspond with the prescription dates.
- Watch for financial abuse by asking the elder if you can check their bank accounts and credit card statements for unauthorised transactions.
- Identify the warning signs of abuse or neglect and report it without delay. Concerned about an adult
Reporting elder abuse
If you are an elder who is being abused, neglected, or exploited, tell at least one person. Tell your doctor, a friend, or a family member whom you trust. Or call one of the helplines listed below. If you see an older adult being abused or neglected, don’t hesitate to report the situation. And if you see future incidences of abuse, continue to call and report them. Each elder abuse report is a snapshot of what is taking place. The more information that you can provide, the better the chance the elder has of getting the quality of care they need. Older adults can become increasingly isolated from society and, with no work to attend, it can be easy for abuse cases to go unnoticed for long periods.
Many seniors don’t report the abuse they face even if they’re able. Some fear retaliation from the abuser, while others view having an abusive caretaker as better than having no caretaker and being forced to move out of their own home. When the caregivers are their children, they may feel ashamed that their children are inflicting harm or blame themselves: “If I’d been a better parent when they were younger, this wouldn’t be happening.” Or they just may not want children they love to get into trouble with the law. In any situation of elder abuse, it can be a real challenge to respect an older adult’s right to autonomy while at the same time. Concerned about an adult
Useful links:
This years theme is Living Life with a Learning Disability
Mencap wants to show how people with a learning disability are reconnecting with friends and their communities. They also want to talk about the issues many people still face after the end of COVID restrictions, like still having to isolate or dealing with poor mental health and anxiety.
Where can you find out more?
Learning Disability Week 2022 | Mencap
Useful Links:
The county-wide approach is to raise awareness of domestic abuse and the various forms it comes in, with a focus on coercive control. Messaging is targeted at those who are in unhealthy/toxic relationships whether that be those being abused or the abuser. Young people are also being encouraged to spot the signs of unhealthy relationships
Controlling behaviour in relationships
Abuse isn’t always physical
Domestic abuse and toxic relationships don’t always involve physical violence. It can be sexual, financial and emotional abuse and can happen to anyone. Sustained controlling behaviour such as regularly intimidating, bullying, criticising or threatening someone in a personal relationship, are all forms of what is called ‘coercive control’. This is a form of domestic abuse and is a criminal offence.
What is coercive control?
Typically one person in a personal relationship, whether it be a partner, spouse or family member, will control the other over a period of time and in ways that go largely unnoticed by friends and family. As well as the bullying and criticism, common traits of coercive control can include checking the other’s phone, making them dress in or look a certain way, wanting to know where they are and who they are seeing, restricting their money or cutting them off from friends and family.
Who can it happen to and what support is available?
Abuse can happen to anyone. Children and young people that are new to relationships might not know what a healthy relationship is. So it’s really important to help young people spot the signs when a relationship is unhealthy.
What support is available?
The LoveRespect website includes lots of helpful information for young people including a quiz to learn more about how healthy their relationship is, and advice on how to help a friend who might be spending time with someone who doesn’t treat them well. Drawtheline.uk is an online interactive platform for use on a smartphone to help young people to identify harmful, toxic and abusive behaviour in their relationships and also provides information, help and advice.
A range of help and support is available, including general advice and confidential listening. So if you think you may be in a controlling relationship or know someone who is, we are here to help when you are ready. Visit the Surrey Against Domestic Abuse website, call Surrey’s Domestic Abuse helpline provided by Your Sanctuary on 01483 776822 or use the Your Sanctuary confidential online chat to get advice, signposting and information just as you would over the phone. In an emergency you should always call 999.
Surrey County Council and Surrey Police will be creating a social media toolkit.
