Council to Reduce Elder Abuse (CREA) Community Capacity-Building Grants Project Summaries July 2016 Table of contents:
Introduction: ...... 1
Association of Neighbourhood Houses of BC (ANHBC) ...... 2
“Scaling-Up Elder Abuse Awareness and Prevention” ...... 2
BC Association of Community Response Networks (BC CRN) ...... 4
“Embedding the ability to deliver the ‘It’s Not Right!’ (INR) in the Community Response Network communities across BC” ...... 4
BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC) ...... 6
“Us and Our Elders: A cultural training approach to building stronger relationships that end Elder abuse” ...... 6
BC Centre for Elder Advocacy Support (BCCEAS) ...... 8
“Not in My Family: ...... 8
Working with Family Caregivers to Reduce Elder Abuse” ...... 8
BC Crime Prevention Association (BCCPA) ...... 10
“Elder Abuse Awareness and Response for Front-line Service Providers and First Points of Contact” ...... 10
Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health (IALH) ...... 13
(Formerly the Centre on Aging) – University of Victoria ...... 13
“Addressing the Issue of Elder Abuse in Ethnocultural Minority Communities in the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria” ...... 13
Kwadacha Nation ...... 15
“Northern Tsek’ene Elders TREA Project” ...... 15
Network of Inner City Community Services Society (NICCSS) ...... 17
“Elders Connect” ...... 17
Simon Fraser University (SFU) ...... 19
“Raising Awareness and Addressing Elder Abuse in the LGBT Community” ...... 19
S.U.C.C.E.S.S...... 22
“Outreach to Chinese Immigrant Communities in Metro Vancouver” ...... 22 Tonari Gumi: Japanese Community Volunteers Association ...... 24
“Stopping Elder Abuse in the BC Japanese Canadian Community” ...... 24
Vancouver Police Department (VPD) Domestic Violence, Criminal Harassment and Elder Abuse Unit 26
“Safety and Awareness for Elders (S.A.F.E.)” ...... 26
West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund (WCLEAF) ...... 28
“Supporting Elders Fleeing Abuse in the Family Context” ...... 28
West End Seniors’ Network (WESN) ...... 30
“West End Collaborative to Address Abuse of Elderly Renters” ...... 30
Contact List ...... 32 Introduction:
The Council to Reduce Elder Abuse (CREA) was established in December 2013, pursuant to Together to Reduce Elder Abuse, B.C.’s Strategy (TREA Strategy), as a venue for organizations and agencies from various sectors, representatives from Aboriginal and ethnocultural communities, and seniors to collaborate and support province-wide efforts to raise awareness about, prevent, and respond to elder abuse in British Columbia.
In April 2015, with funding obtained through the Ministry of Health, CREA provided grants (Grants) of up to $50,000 for projects involving partnerships among organizations that furthered the TREA Strategy’s and CREA’s goal of reducing elder abuse in B.C.
The grants were intended to assist provincial and community-based organizations to develop new or enhance existing elder abuse prevention, recognition or response projects and programs, to support seniors, their families and caregivers, front-line workers, etc. The Grants were awarded for projects that involved strong partnerships, and to organizations with a good knowledge/understanding of elder abuse, excellent track records and a clear capacity to implement the project. The projects responded to an identified need, resulted in new approaches and resources to address elder abuse, and included a strong sustainability plan. They supported diversity, addressed issues faced by socially isolated or otherwise marginalized seniors, and strengthened networks.
These projects, and the approach to prevention, recognition and response, are as diverse as the populations targeted, and have educated police, bystanders, service providers, caregivers, older women fleeing abuse, seniors from various ethnocultural communities, Aboriginal Elders, people in the LGBTQ community, elderly renters and their landlords, families and communities about the mistreatment of older British Columbians. It is hoped that through sharing and collaboration, the results will continue to have an impact on all British Columbians and will contribute to a change in societal attitudes so that elder abuse is no longer tolerated in this province.
Contact information for the project leads is provided on page 32.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 1 Association of Neighbourhood Houses of BC (ANHBC) “Scaling-Up Elder Abuse Awareness and Prevention” Project Objectives: • Create a model and social infrastructure for sustaining and expanding the reach of the Finding Home Community Capacity Building Dialogues for elder abuse awareness and prevention. • Create strategies for engaging seniors’ leadership and building partnerships across a wide range of community sectors to address elder abuse, and support initiatives led by seniors from all ethnocultural communities. Key Partners: • Finding Home; South Vancouver Neighbourhood House; Vancity • Additional partners identified through the project: Family Services of Greater Vancouver; MOSAIC; BCCEAS; BC211; City of Richmond; Vancouver Aboriginal Family Services; Musqueam Nation; Reconciliation Canada; Royal Bank; Vancouver Foundation; Metro Vancouver Cross Cultural Seniors Network; UWLM; Telus; London Drugs; Dream Bank; LOCO BC; Community Action Initiative (foundation); UBC Centre for Engaged Learning; City of Vancouver social planners; Provincial Health Services Society; Family Services of Greater Vancouver; Vantage Point, non-Profit Housing Association; Urban Matters; 411 Seniors Council; SPARC BC; Vancouver Coastal Health; and Burnaby Social Planning Committee. Activities: • Designed and facilitated: o 3 seniors focus groups with Afghani seniors; South Asian seniors; multi-cultural seniors o 1 focus group with host agency coordinators o 2 focus groups with agency and organizational leaders at Vancouver Foundation o 1 Aboriginal Leaders focus group at Musqueam First Nations o Sustainability workshop (testing tools with agencies identified through the focus groups). • Identified champions and focus group participants interested in further collaboration. • Interviewed and filmed nine seniors who volunteered to be in the promotional video. • Created a model of partnerships and presented to six planning and advisory tables. • Developed and tested the Readiness Self-Assessment tool for agencies. Outcomes: • Three non-profit organizations have self-assessed readiness to sustain elder-led activities. • The following communities and organizations indicated interest in using the tools and Finding Home™ approach to support elders-led abuse prevention dialogues: South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House, MOSAIC, Century House. • Engaged financial institutions and funders in dialogue to brainstorm a funding model that would sustain an elders-led community development network. • Established new relationships and collaboration.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 2 Tools and Resources: Focus groups and interviews generated information that led to the creation of sustainability tools. • Developed a website dedicated to the scaling-up project with tools and resources http://www.worldviewstrategies.com/our-flagship-program/. • Tools are freely available to organizations interested in hosting a Finding Home program or for applying the unique elders-led approach. • Asset-Based Community Development - Phase One: Agency/Organization Self-Readiness Assessment Package o Readiness Checklist o Readiness Application o Gantt Chart o Work Plan & Cost Projection Tool o Build Your Own Budget Tool • Finding Home™ Handbook for Host Agencies • Digital Resources and Planning Tools • Core Team Model • Sample Community Partnership Model • Convening Video (176 MB) • Convening Poster Template • System Change Wheel Lessons Learned: • Further resourcing is needed to adapt the Asset Based Community Development Checklist for Aboriginal communities. • Seniors are not interested in fundraising directly. • Agency leaders are concerned about seniors being exploited. • To better engage with the business sector, should have a working group member with a corporate community investment portfolio be part of the project, and a business student intern have a practicum to carry out the business sector engagement and research. • Need to present the Finding Home™ program at business sector meetings and gatherings. • Should have kept scope of research phase smaller, rather than adding more focus groups. Challenges: • The business sector was the hardest to engage. Several were invited to the sustainability focus group but did not attend. Consequently, three one-on-one interviews were conducted. • How to resource a Finding Home team to support and train communities throughout B.C. on this effective prevention approach to elder financial abuse. For Sustainability: • Looking for a way to house Finding Home as a team approach to support communities who want to use this process within a resourced, provincial body. • Will engage in a social media campaign to drive stakeholders and others to access the tools available on the website. E-newsletter and blogs will include all stakeholders involved in the project, as well as the thousands of others that subscribe to the blog and follow on twitter. • BCCRN, if needed, offered to support the Finding Home process and disseminate training opportunities via its website and mentors.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 3 BC Association of Community Response Networks (BC CRN) “Embedding the ability to deliver the ‘It’s Not Right!’ (INR) in the Community Response Network communities across BC” Project Objectives: • BC CRN mentors will train and support local communities in delivering “It’s Not Right” workshops designed to educate and engage bystanders in identifying and responding to elder abuse. • Build general public awareness and awareness among seniors about how to prevent, recognize and respond to elder abuse.
Key Partners: • Trainees or potential trainees: RCMP, Investors Group, Fraser Valley Library, Menno Lodge, Local CRN Members. Activities: • Established an advisory committee. • Adapted existing materials and completed new materials. • Prepared and printed a Program Delivery Guide and Presenter’s Manual. • Delivered 28 INR workshops in communities around BC; First Nations often participated; Francophone CRN hosted a workshop (572 attendees). • Delivered presenters’ training events in the North, Vancouver Island, Tri-Cities and Vancouver, that included Spanish speakers, Downtown Eastside and community police (81 trainees). • Held monthly community of practice teleconferences with the organizing body and representatives from across Canada to discuss findings, challenges and successes. Outcomes: • Presenters’ Training: Trainers have been trained to present INR workshops to community volunteers and people working in larger organizations who are interested in having ‘in-house’ trainers. • The INR workshops are designed to engage bystanders, increase awareness about the signs of elder abuse, and empower individuals to take appropriate action. This is a nationally-accepted program. The trainees, once trained, receive a USB with the material and agree to collect metrics. Tools and Resources: • All materials developed by the BC CRN are freely shared on the BC CRN website at www.bccrns.ca, with the exception of the videos, which accompany the INR training and are available only to those who have completed the training. Lessons Learned: • The training is complicated, requiring approximately 8 hours, and the new trainer may still need support. • As the program matures, there will be more experienced trainers, which will reduce the demand for extensive travel.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 4 • A decision was made to form a provincial training team with mentor/trainers who were comfortable with and competent to deliver the material. Several of the mentors showed a hesitancy to provide this training on their own. • Materials are being redesigned to address complexity. Challenges: • Setting up and scheduling workshops was logistically challenging. • Occasional equipment malfunctions at venues. • Complexity of the forms, agreements and evaluation tools – under review. For Sustainability: • The CREA grant helped to kick-start the project, which will now be embedded in general operations, funded primarily through the Ministry of Health. • Training will be available to anyone who is interested, and materials will be available to those who have taken the training. • There are regular INR Presenter newsletters. The Team Leaders meet monthly with their mentors and discuss their progress and challenges. The mentors do the same thing with their coordinators. • The Management Team monitors the progress of the workshops throughout the province. • The workshops are part of the annual BCCRN evaluation which is measuring the effectiveness of developing abuse/neglect awareness at the community level, by offering these bystander engagement workshops.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 5 BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC) “Us and Our Elders: A cultural training approach to building stronger relationships that end Elder abuse” Project Objectives: • Elders will experience less isolation and neglect, and will have a better understanding of traditional Indigenous values related to the role and treatment of Elders. • Aboriginal communities and service providers will have a better understanding of community supports, and will strengthen partnerships among service providers in the community. • Non-Aboriginal organizations that provide services to Elders will gain access to tools, develop partnerships with Aboriginal service providers, and increase knowledge to help them better serve the unique needs of Elders. Key Partners: • Friendship Centre executive staff. Activities: • Round Circle, group-style workshops in Friendship Centres in Prince George, Williams Lake, Penticton, Smithers and Port Alberni. • Workshops: a) followed traditional protocols; provided and acknowledged that they were comfortable, trusted and safe environments; c) provided food; d) provided materials that supported the discussions; e) provided support staff for those needing extra emotional support; and, f) provided further advice or supports after the workshop. Outcomes: • Train-the-trainer approach (10 people) resulted in learning that can be applied more broadly by the participants to their community, demonstrating replicability/scalability. • Built coalitions/networks to increase effectiveness of efforts to reduce Elder abuse by bringing together Elders and Elder support workers of the community to learn together and built a common ground of knowledge from which to develop mutually supportive relationships. • Island Health (Port Alberni) and Williams Lake RCMP representatives participated. Tools and Resources: • BCAAFC Elder Abuse Prevention Toolkit – contains information on tips, stats and ways to recognize Elder Abuse. Workshop/toolkit can be customized based on the needs of the specific community. • A condensed version of the Toolkit was developed for one-on-one counselling. Lessons Learned: • Addressing Elder abuse in the traditional circle provides support to Elders and space for healing and reconciliation for themselves, their families, communities and allies. Challenges: • Having enough time and food to sit in the circle, and sufficient support staff.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 6 • Elders in northern communities have travel challenges. For Sustainability: • Created sustainability by building a pool of competent facilitators who can teach the material to other people at the local level. • Additional workshops will be held within communities in Friendship Centres across BC. BCAAFC Elder and Youth Coordinator will be the primary contact. • BCAAFC Elder Abuse Prevention Toolkit will remain on the BCAAFC website in downloadable format. In summer 2016, the site will be updated with new resources, including an updated Toolkit.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 7 BC Centre for Elder Advocacy Support (BCCEAS) “Not in My Family: Working with Family Caregivers to Reduce Elder Abuse” Project Objectives: • Develop and implement education on elder abuse prevention, recognition and response for family caregivers of older adults in BC via webinars, teleseminars and in-person workshops.
Key Partners: • Family Caregivers of BC, Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation, Seniors Come Share Society, Alzheimer Society of British Columbia, UBC Digital Emergency Medicine – interCultural Online Health Network.
Activities: • Adapt existing materials for family caregivers (English, Chinese, South Asian and First Nations) – PowerPoint presentation, resource handouts, brochures and booklets. Adaptations in collaboration with SUCCESS, Alzheimer Society of BC, Progressive Intercultural Community Services and First Nations Health Authority. • Outreach activities (emails and media interviews). • Exhibits & events (Nursing Education Forum, Mental Wellness Forums, Burnaby Caregivers’ Expo). • 13 workshops conducted for family caregivers (in-person, teleseminar, webinar).
Outcomes: • A total of 100 family caregivers participated in workshops and teleseminars/webinars. The majority of the workshop participants expressed that they have an increased awareness of elder abuse, and feel empowered to respond effectively and protect older adults against elder abuse.
Tools and Resources: • PowerPoint presentation, resource handouts, brochures and booklets (including culturally appropriate).
Lessons Learned: • There were mixed reactions when addressing elder abuse during workshops. Some of the reactions included: shame, guilt, frustration, and helplessness. Facilitators had to clarify expectations and learning goals at the beginning of each workshop and discussion. Family caregivers found that essential resources regarding elder abuse are either limited or difficult to obtain in their community. • By allocating sufficient time during workshops for participants to discuss, ask questions, and mutually exchange tips and resources for healthy caregiving, family caregivers may feel more empowered to deal with issues and concerns that arise; including responding effectively and protecting older adults against elder abuse. • Resource materials developed for family caregivers need to be made available in various formats (e.g. hard-copy, online), and also disseminated to other networks and organizations serving family caregivers, to facilitate ease of access to information and resources. • Essential resources for family caregivers are practical in nature; providing them with relief from stress and burnout, and strategies to deal with complex family problems.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 8 Family caregivers shared that these resources are either very limited or difficult to access in their communities. • Family Caregivers participating in the events (from respondents who provided this information): o Majority were women and, of those, over 55% between 45 to 64 years of age
o Over 55% married; over 50% work part-time or more hours
o Over 45% have completed post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree
o Over 50% care for their partner/spouse or aging parent/relative
o 50% caregiving for one year or more, and live in the same city/town as the care recipient
Challenges: • Participants had mixed reactions to the issue of elder abuse. Some wished only to engage in discussions about caregiving issues – e.g. practical strategies to avoid burnout, maintain social connections and improve communication. To mitigate this challenge, workshop facilitators need to clarify expectations and learning goals with participants at the beginning of the workshop, and be knowledgeable about appropriate information and resources for family caregivers. • Resources on elder abuse awareness and response designed for family caregivers are limited and do not address ethnocultural differences. Consultation is needed to develop culturally-appropriate materials, and access to the materials needs to be enhanced. • Strong emphasis on need for practical resources to relieve family caregivers from stress, burnout, and complex family problems. Facilitators need to be familiar with the availability of these resources (e.g., United Way of the Lower Mainland’s Resource Handbook 2016). • Participant turnout for workshops was lower than expected, perhaps due to family caregivers having limited time, concerns about confidentiality and the sensitive nature of the subject matter. To address this, opportunities to provide teleseminar/webinar recordings to family caregivers to view on their own time are being explored. For Sustainability: • BCCEAS and Family Caregivers of British Columbia will incorporate project materials into core education workshops. Materials will be presented and shared with other organizations, such as the UBC Centre for Excellence and Indigenous Health. • Alzheimer Society of British Columbia, Seniors Come Share Society and UBC Digital Emergency Medicine – interCultural Online Health Network will post teleseminar/ webinar recordings and other resources on their website. Materials will also be disseminated to staff, volunteers, and other networks. • BCCEAS will disseminate learnings from the project to other organizations through direct sharing, workshops, and information on their website. • The workshop/resources may be presented to other target groups (e.g., home care support workers).
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 9 BC Crime Prevention Association (BCCPA) “Elder Abuse Awareness and Response for Front-line Service Providers and First Points of Contact”
Project Objectives: • Develop a comprehensive, customizable train-the-trainer module to be delivered to frontline criminal justice practitioners and community professionals. • Integrate awareness of elder abuse into existing and new models of training for frontline police, criminal justice personnel and community professionals. • Disseminate tools to these groups so that they can further educate their respective community members about abuse of older adult populations. Key Partners: • Policing and victim services partners in each community, BC Association of Community Response Networks (BCCRN) and other adult abuse specialists in the community, Fiore Group Training (to create training materials). Activities: • Developed training PowerPoint, materials, and lesson plans • Hosted training sessions • Developed self-paced training module • Made resources accessible online Outcomes: • Target audiences were policing, victim services and health sector personnel.
• Introduced and enhanced awareness of abuse of older adults, and the respective roles of the service providers. • Introduced and promoted the availability of resources, both local and provincial. • Participants exchanged information about initiatives within their communities, and identified local challenges and opportunities to collaborate. • Engaged front-line crime prevention and victim services practitioners, volunteers, as well as health professionals. Tools and Resources: • Self-study learning CD (under development) will provide organizations with a resource they can use to raise awareness, including links to other resources and information available across the province. The module consists of the PowerPoint deck of slides with voice-over audio, which can be used as part of a larger presentation, as stand alone or in conjunction with other presentations. The PowerPoint deck can be used as a Train-the-Trainer resource. • Various handouts were created to support the training that can also serve as one-page quick reference sheet for first-responders.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 10 Lessons Learned: • The “Decision Tree for Effective Referrals”, developed by the Public Guardian and Trustee of BC, was shared. Many participants were both unaware of this document and unaware of the role the health authorities play as designated agencies who receive reports of abuse of older adults. • Training sessions in the north attracted a higher number of health care professionals. This may demonstrate a need for additional training targeted and designed specifically for this sector. • Many participants attended the sessions with the intention to learn about solutions for cases they were involved in. • A full-day training session was considered to be too long. • Many organizations lack the mandate to deliver training on this subject. BCCPA recognizes this as an opportunity to provide training designed to address issues faced by first responders. • An unexpected opportunity was for participants to strengthen their connections to resources within their communities. In several of the training locations, participants were able to put faces to the names and agencies. Networking opportunities were a value-added component of the training. Challenges: • Participants wanted solutions for cases they were involved in. This was addressed by providing participants with information and resources (safety planning tools) for supporting at risk older adults. Ideas were exchanged to help participants support older adults they were assisting. • Others wanted a general overview to apply to cases they may encounter. • The training material was designed to be basic and generic, and the audiences’ expertise differed across the sessions. Project leads will develop an advanced training module to further develop the participants’ skills. It will include scenarios and potential steps that may be taken to address the situations. • Some participants felt that the full-day training session was too long. Project leads will produce a self-study CD with three 45 – 60 minute modules. For Sustainability: • BCCPA will be developing a self-study CD, to be provided to each organization that participated and to all the BCCPA members. • BCCPA will be redeveloping its website to create a landing point where visitors can access links to existing resources to support in the response of this topic. • BCCPA will continue to apply for funding opportunities to allow for the continued delivery of the current basic training module and to further develop and deliver an advanced skills training module. • Through highlighting resources available, and providing an opportunity for local organizations to share details of their services, it is anticipated participants will continue to network and strengthen their partnerships.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 11 • Organizations and agencies need to come together to create a resource that could be easily used by frontline responders and support persons to guide them through recognizing abuse of older adults, and how each organization/agency can best support at risk and vulnerable older adults.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 12 Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health (IALH) (Formerly the Centre on Aging) – University of Victoria “Addressing the Issue of Elder Abuse in Ethnocultural Minority Communities in the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria”
Project Objectives: • Explore the nature of elder abuse in the Chinese and South Asian communities to assess the communities’ unique needs. • Build awareness around the prevention, recognition and response to elder abuse in the Chinese and South Asian communities. • Support front-line workers through education and training (i.e., by increasing access to relevant tools to help them to respond effectively and protect older adults in these communities). • Create a shared leadership and collaborative network across the partner organizations and their affiliates to reduce elder abuse in these ethno-cultural minority communities in BC.
Key Partners: • Canadian Centre for Elder Law (CCEL), National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly (NICE), MOSAIC, Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA), Vancouver and Lower Mainland Multicultural Family Support Services Society (VLMFSS)
Activities: • Mapping research; identified tools (digital and paper) available for practitioners, older adults and their families in the Chinese and South Asian communities. • Data transcription and analysis; themes were identified; new issues and challenges facing the target population were uncovered; gaps were identified in terms of tools and resources. • Created a visual map for awareness-building based on discussions with focus groups. • Identified resources necessary to build awareness about issues in the communities. • In consultation with key informants from the Chinese and South Asian communities, developed posters to promote awareness and provided these to stakeholders including immigrant and settlement organizations and health care authorities. • Raising awareness about the issues addressed by the project through media and social media.
Outcomes: • Visual map: Map was created to outline the existing and needed resources to serve as a capacity-building tool for the elder abuse sector in BC. • Poster: A poster is being created to act as a tool in building awareness about the issue of elder abuse in the two communities. Tools and Resources: • Digital and paper versions of posters. • A series of plain language elder abuse posters that rely on minimal text and significant imagery to communicate information. Ideally, posters will be placed at accessible locations such as pharmacies, doctors’ offices, and temples. The theme of healthy aging to frame the notion of abuse suggests that health care-related sites (doctors’ offices, pharmacies, hospitals) may be ideal locations to post materials.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 13 • Blog article on CNPEA website at http://cnpea.ca/en/blog/565-jenny-ruan and on the CCEL website at http://www.bcli.org/category/ccel-blog. Lessons Learned: • The term “abuse” has a strong negative connotation and it is difficult for many older adults to characterize their situations as abuse. Service providers felt that the tools need to use terminology that Chinese and South Asian older adults would feel comfortable with, accept and understand in order to be effective. Participants suggested that addressing the issue of elder abuse from a health angle would be a better way to initiate contact and dialogue. • Multiple generations living together in one residence and strong family ties can contribute positively to the lives of older adults in Chinese and South Asian culture, resulting in sustained relationships with children and grandchildren and less social isolation. However, these dynamics can also make it harder for older adults to talk about abuse or leave abusive situations. • Distinct cultural issues, such as shame, suggest that an intervention involving family mediation and safety planning might be more effective in these communities. Often older adults in these situations require outreach efforts, and traditional ways of supporting them from within the abusive relationship. • Older adults are reluctant to leave family even if they are not safe at home. Research is needed to identify safety planning strategies and approaches that are effective for ethnocultural minority and immigrant older adults living in situations where they are experiencing, or at risk of, elder abuse. Social service agencies require funding to engage in safety planning with ethnocultural minority older adults. • Pharmacies, doctors’ offices, and temples are considered appropriate locations for elder abuse services or resources to be made available. Service providers indicated that public service announcements made through media, such as radio, newspaper, and television (presented in South Asian or Chinese languages), are the most popular, and thus most accessible means of offering information and services. Written text is sometimes not effective because older adults may not be able to read in any language. • Older women can be exploited because they are often expected to provide child care, and perform domestic duties. A gendered analysis is key. Tools targeting the whole family, and outlining services for older women, should also be developed. • To avoid cultural stigmatization, awareness building should champion the positive aspects of culture (cohabitation, collectivism, reverence for older adults), focusing on finding a “champion or pioneer” within the community and building capacity for peer support. Community members should be involved at every stage of research. • Collaboration between academia and community is needed to conduct meaningful research and effectively implement changes in communities. Challenges: • Finding a South Asian research assistant with Hindi and Punjabi language skills. • Limited funding for needed awareness building tools (e.g., public service announcement videos).
For Sustainability: • The project provides a basis for the development of further community resources tailored to address the unique needs of older adults and their families in different ethnocultural communities.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 14 Kwadacha Nation “Northern Tsek’ene Elders TREA Project”1 Project Objectives: • Build a strong foundation of awareness and support for the dignity and independence of Aboriginal Elders, in the geographic area of the Kaska Dena communities. • Culturally adapt existing elder abuse materials. • Provide training sessions focussing on Health Team members and develop an action plan to integrate resources and materials into professional practice. • Build awareness about elder abuse at Elder gatherings, community cultural events and five community dinners. • Provide training for youth through the schools. Partners: • Tsay Keh Dene First Nation • The Good Medicine Group (GMG) Activities: • Elders from Kwadacha and Tsay Keh Dene reviewed Elder abuse resource materials – Elder Abuse Prevention Information Kit and BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centre workshop materials – and provide input on cultural adaptation, distribution and presentation of materials in the community. • Prince George Community Response Network provided a video, display, and handout material for community members and youth, at a Health and Job Fair and a community dinner. • Worked with the project committee to create six scenarios of Elder abuse that might be occurring in the community. • Developed a poster campaign. • Introduced project to band membership through contributing to two newsletters (quarterly). • Undertook training workshop. Elders and community members attended Session 1, and health care workers attended Session 2, which was specifically focused on their roles in the community. • Hosted two community dinners and used the developed scenarios. This interactive, “real life” exercise was very effective, with a number of Elders asking to repeat it at future events.
1 N.B. Based on Mid-Term Report for two-year project, ending April 2017
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 15 Outcomes: • Achieved wide acceptance of project through carefully planning how, and when, the subject of Elder abuse would be introduced, and ensuring that the community defined “abuse,” rather than having a definition imposed on them • At the first public event, the Health and Job Fair, young children asked what Elder abuse was and then readily acknowledged that they knew it happened and knew “Grandmas and Grandpas should not be treated bad.” • Each project committee meeting has brought more and more openness to the subject. Tools and Resources: • Under development Lessons Learned: • Elders and the community have been unexpectedly open and accepting of this project. During planning, it was felt that the first step – to bring recognition of abuse to the community – might be the most difficult, but it continues to be openly accepted. • The first meeting of the project was open to everyone rather than undertaking a campaign for committee members and then holding a meeting. This had the positive effect of generating interest and informing people about the obligations of becoming a committee member. Challenges: • Involving Tsay Keh, the community geographically closest to Kwadacha (70 km), was challenging due to political differences. Tsay Keh Dene Elders continue to be invited to all events but a strategy needs to be developed to ensure that Kwadacha and Tsay Keh Elders can gather together at Elder abuse events. For Sustainability: • There needs to be solid follow-up to ensure permanent awareness, response, and change in Kwadacha. Activities currently under development: • More workshops, community dinners and articles in the community newsletter. • Completion of posters using local Elders’ pictures and themes developed by the Elders. • Design a protocol agreement with the Kwadacha Health Department’s healthcare workers with respect to the procedure to follow when Elder abuse occurs.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 16 Network of Inner City Community Services Society (NICCSS) “Elders Connect”
Project Objectives: • The risk of abuse will decrease by increasing community connections for at-risk, vulnerable seniors, and by increasing awareness of programs and services. • Seniors, youth and peer leaders are trained in elder abuse awareness and promote safety awareness for seniors in the community. • Target populations – marginalized and vulnerable Aboriginal and newcomer seniors in Vancouver’s inner city
Key Partners: • Aboriginal Life In Vancouver Enhancement Society, Ray-Cam Community Centre, RICHER Initiative, Britannia Community Centre, Vancouver Public Library, Salish Sea Production, MOSIAC, Downtown Eastside (DTES) Community Response Network, Vancouver Aboriginal Community Response Network.
Activities: • Nine organizations met monthly, and community events were held, to identify gaps in services and programs for at-risk seniors, and established an action plan based on findings. • Created two short videos for the Grandview-Woodlands and DTES areas focussing on seniors’ issues, the Elders Connect project and elder abuse awareness. • Elder abuse awareness training (“It’s Not Right”) for 12 peers, staff and community members, who will then present in the community. Also, Elder/senior peer leaders were trained and will provide elder abuse awareness training to peers. • Assisted seniors to sign up as members of local community centres and encouraging community centres to develop and implement senior advisory tables.
Outcomes: • Engaging with seniors/Elders led to programming that better fits seniors’ needs and, therefore, reduced barriers to accessing programs. Hosting Elder talking circles and distributing the BC Seniors Resource guides and Elder Abuse Prevention Kits generated a lot of discussion regarding elder abuse. These resources have been distributed in all of the NICCSS seniors programs. • In partnership with the DTES and Grandview Woodlands CRNs, created two videos about elder abuse awareness. One focuses on the Elders Connect project and the other focuses on issues of Elder Abuse that seniors experience while living in the DTES. • Elders Connect engaged five seniors to connect with seniors living in their buildings. They act as program ambassadors by connecting with neighbours and inviting/ accompanying them to community activities. They also promote safety and provide tips about staying safe in the neighbourhood, as well as about elder abuse awareness and financial scams. Tools and Resources: • Learnings from the Elders Connect project will be shared through community planning tables, workshops and online forums. Both the DTES CRN and Grandview-Woodlands CRN videos will be on the CRN and NICCSS website.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 17 Lessons Learned: • By embedding elder abuse awareness into other programs and activities, the participation rate was much higher and resulted in greater follow up and responses from seniors. • Elders expressed the desire for culturally-appropriate programming, opportunities to share experiences and learning with young people, and fun activities to encourage social inclusion. Some Elders preferred intergenerational programs, rather than programs specifically for seniors. • Seniors expressed concerns about safety and access to appropriate primary health care. • Working with a diverse group of organizations, individuals and seniors can be challenging. • Collaborative working relationships take time to develop. The NICCSS buddies program has been able to bridge that gap by introducing seniors to staff and “vouching” for the staff as being individuals they can trust.
Challenges: • Established a seniors’ advisory table and engaged an Aboriginal Elder to host workshops and culturally-appropriate events, but was not able to establish a “network of Aboriginal seniors”. Trained Aboriginal seniors who are engaged in the NICCSS buddy program. It was overly ambitious to have a network established but will continue to recruit more Aboriginal seniors to be building buddies, which is the beginning of a network. • One of the main challenges was getting buy-in from the target population. While this was a diverse group, they did not want to attend or take part in events for programs that were presented as being about elder abuse, because: o Marginalized seniors, especially Aboriginal Seniors are hesitant to trust or accept assistance from authority figures because they do not see them as benevolent. o Many seniors are disconnected from their families and do not see elder abuse as an issue. o Traditionally, Elders in Aboriginal communities are held in positions of esteem and respect as they are the keepers to cultural/spiritual traditions and learnings. This can hinder the disclosure of Elder Abuse as it contradicts cultural tenants and expectations.
For Sustainability: • Learnings from Elders Connect will be shared through community planning tables, workshops and on-line forums (Better at Home). • The two videos created will be posted on the CRN and NICCSS websites. • Leveraged Elders Connect to secure funding from the United Way to continue the project activities. • Secured a UKAN grant for a research project (NICCSS, ALIVE, and UBC collaboration) to identify and understand the help-seeking patterns of Aboriginal seniors in Vancouver’s inner city, and the real and perceived barriers for marginalized seniors in accessing community services. • NICCSS planning for additional large, community engagement events in summer 2016, including senior/elder circles. • A Cantonese-speaking, Chinese senior will receive “It’s Not Right” training in summer 2016, and a Chinese Seniors HUB will be created.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 18 Simon Fraser University (SFU) “Raising Awareness and Addressing Elder Abuse in the LGBT Community” Project Objectives: • Produce short videos illustrating mistreatment of older adults in the LGBTQ community. • Increase awareness of elder abuse, and its prevention and services among LGBTQ youth and seniors, and increase sensitivity among elder abuse workers to LGBTQ persons’ needs. • Develop factsheets in English, Chinese and Punjabi and post to SFU website. • Host Town Hall meetings across the province in each of the five health authority regions.
Key Partners: • Alzheimer Society of BC; Haro Park Centre; Health Initiative for Men; Quirk-e; GAB Youth; Youth for A Change; QMUNITY; Health Authorities; West End Seniors Network; AIDS Network, Outreach and Support Society; BCCEAS; BCCRN; Better at Home & Seniors Outreach; Nelson & District Union; MOSAIC; Living Positive Resource Centre; Network to Eliminate Violence in Relationships; PGT; Senior Gay Men in Kelowna; Trans Health Information Program; UNBC School of Social Work; UVic Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health (former Centre on Aging); Vancouver Coastal Health PRISM Services; Vancouver Older Adults Addiction Program. Activities: • Brought together queer older adult creative writers (Quirk-e members), queer youth activists (Youth for A Change members) and SFU elder abuse/intimate partner violence researchers (from Gerontology Research Centre & Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Dept.) to produce LGBTQ older-adult relevant posters, fact sheets and videos • Created a Community Partners Advisory Group, with roles such as suggesting topics for the videos, reviewing the resources produced and assisting with outreach and dissemination. • Held Town Halls in Surrey, Nelson, Vancouver, Prince George, Kelowna, Victoria. • Engaged in numerous outreach activities: workshop at BOLDfest; presentations at colleges and universities; speaking events; 5 radio interviews; blog entries; newspaper and newsletter articles; scholarly contributions and academic conferences. • Launched elder abuse page on LGBT End of Life Conversations website (www.sfu.ca/ lgbteol). • Held an elder abuse/LGBT Dialogue Session with Chinese and Punjabi service providers. • Posters and videos on display at Roundhouse Community Centre City’s Seniors’ Week Exhibition. Outcomes: • Brought together service providers and advocates who work in the area of elder abuse with those who work with/for the LGBTQ community; raised awareness in both sectors of the special vulnerabilities for abuse and neglect of LGBT older adults, and of the
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 19 services each had to offer locally and provincially, and laid the ground work for further cooperation and collaboration. • The project expanded knowledge of elder abuse and the special vulnerabilities of LGBT older adults and their service needs among NGOs and government agencies that provide services to seniors and their families (e.g. Alzheimer’s Society; Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee). • Brought together health authority staff who work with elder abuse, with staff who work with diversity training and/or LGBT issues. • Raised awareness of the needs of marginalized sub-groups in general and LGBT older adults in particular within the Chinese and South Asian communities. • Raised awareness about elder abuse among queer youth through intergenerational partnership.
Tools and Resources: • Produced posters, fact sheets and videos about elder abuse that are directly relevant to LGBTQ older adults – materials that previously did not exist in Canada. • Three video clips (emotional abuse, physical abuse, financial abuse). • 5 posters/fact sheets (emotional/physical/financial/sexual abuse, neglect) in Chinese/ Punjabi. • Website: Elder abuse section on LGBT End-of-life Conversations website www.sfu.ca/ lgbteol; posted resources - posters, video clips, video of full Vancouver town hall, Power Points. Lessons Learned: • Because LGBT is still a taboo topic, proposed Town Halls were modified to target the Chinese and South Asian communities in three ways: 1) target service providers; 2) call them Dialogue Sessions; 3) place the main emphasis on elder abuse not on LGBT. Recommended to not directly translate English poster because it could discourage dialogue; be culturally insensitive. • Important that the partner is the organization, rather than the person designated to participate in the project, because some individuals left their jobs. • Must work closely and co-host town halls with Elder Abuse Specialists in each health authority. • Recommend having a mix of seniors and service providers participate in the town halls. • Increased the size of the images/fact sheets from letter size to poster size and added SAIL phone number on the front. As people used materials as posters rather than handouts, information on the back, the facts about elder abuse, and where to go for help, would be lost. Challenges: • The first challenge was finding who within each Health Authority worked with LGBT seniors – a largely invisible group both within and outside their community. • Some of the organizations that presented at the town halls had no programs in place that were specifically targeted to LGBT older adults and their presentations were too general. For Sustainability: • Resources are posted on the LGBT EOL Conversations website and may be downloaded free of charge. SFU Gerontology Research Centre is committed to hosting website at no cost. • A volunteer webmaster is in place for the Conversations website until 2018.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 20 • Posters and one of the videos was shown at a national gathering of LGBTQ seniors and human rights activists. These resources have also been distributed to colleagues in Scotland. • Abstract submitted to 2016 Gerontological Society of America (GSA) annual meeting. • A second abstract submission is planned for the 2017 Abstracts published by GSA in a special issue of the Gerontologist and by IAGG in searchable database on their website. • Posters at Pride Street Party exhibition spaces; advertising in Pride Festival Official Magazine. • Developing a Discussion guide for the videos with questions targeted to each topic. • Follow-up of people who attended the town halls. • Write up the project for publication in learned journals, popular press and/or as a book chapter highlighting its inter-generational and inter-sectoral nature and the learnings from both the production and dissemination phases [e.g., see chapter by Shecter & Fleischmann in G. Gutman (ed.) Aging, Ageism and Abuse – published by Elseview Insights, 2010]. • Dissemination of the remaining posters and promotion of videos.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 21 S.U.C.C.E.S.S. “Outreach to Chinese Immigrant Communities in Metro Vancouver”
Project Objectives: • To increase a broader segment of the Chinese community (seniors, family members, volunteers and community) to become more informed about elder abuse.
Key Partners: • BC Centre for Elder Advocacy and Support, Richmond Hospital, Richmond Public Library, Richmond RCMP, Canadian Bankers Association, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Multi-Level Care Society, Chinese Christian Mission, Radio FM 96.1, Fairchild TV, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Evergreen News, Vancouver & Lower Mainland Multicultural Family Support Services Society, BC Responsible Gambling Prevention Program, Canadian Mental Health Association, Richmond Youth Service Agency, Richmond Cares Richmond Gives, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Chinese Help Lines, OMNI Television.
Activities: • Identified existing Chinese print and video materials on elder abuse to use with media, forums and group dialogues. • 16 workshops - audiences included seniors (Mandarin and Cantonese speaking), volunteers, health care personnel and Chinese Help Line staff/volunteers. • Engaged with media, including television and radio interviews (primarily Cantonese and Mandarin channels), published news articles, and hosted community forums. o Evergreen newspaper: published 3 articles o Talentvision interview: 2 interviews o FM 96.1 Radio call: 2 shows o Fairchild TV: Mandarin promotion interview o OMNI News: Cantonese promotion interview o News articles about the Public Community Forum: Westca, Vancouver Overseas Chinese, S.U.C.C.E.S.S., CN, Fairchild TV, Mingpao Daily, Singtao Daily o Public Community Forum included a panel discussion, an educational vignette, and two workshops provided by Richmond RCMP and Canadian Bankers Association. • A vignette (video) was created to illustrate elder abuse concepts – presented a scenario involving abuse, and then allowed audience to reflect on their own situations.
Outcomes: • Provided information to seniors, family members, service providers and youth to raise awareness about elder abuse. • Promoted intergenerational communication in some of the workshops.
Tools and Resources: • Facilitator’s guide - a simple guiding package, including promising practices, presentation materials, other related resources and a direct link to the vignette “An Episode in Mrs. Lee’s Home: Prevent neglect and potential abuse”. • S.U.C.C.E.S.S. uploaded the vignette on YouTube. The video was requested by participants and volunteers for sharing and for education purposes.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 22 Lessons Learned: • Must include both Mandarin and Cantonese materials and presenters. • Be mindful of terminology when talking about elder abuse. Make culturally-appropriate, rather than literal, translations, use descriptive words and case scenarios to contextualize. • Emphasize existence of third-party resources (e.g., Seniors Abuse and Information Line and SUCCESS counselling). • Need to consult with seniors for development of resources. • Having a panel discussion with different experts helps audience to see topics from different angles. • Maintain close relationships with media to keep them involved in promoting elder abuse awareness. • Collect and review feedback from participants of previous workshops to improve targeting and methodology. • A significant amount of time is needed for the production of a video.
Challenges: • Elder abuse is still considered a taboo topic in the Chinese community. Many older adults and family members preferred to talk with people whom they trusted (e.g., friends, family). • Culturally appropriate, Chinese-language resources are still limited within the community. • A majority of older adults do not understand or have limited ability to understand English. Service providers need to provide interpretation services and help older adults understand the resources.
For Sustainability: • The workshop presentations, resource materials and videos can be used by service providers to continue raising public awareness about elder abuse in Chinese communities. • BCCEAS will update workshop materials as needed, and provide Chinese-speaking presentations as requested. • S.U.C.C.E.S.S. will continue to serve older adults in the local Chinese community by incorporating experiences accumulated in this project. • The learnings from this project can be disseminated through direct sharing of the facilitator’s guide or online sharing by Dropbox or online links. • The next step should be to educate the Chinese general public about elder abuse. • The learnings can be disseminated to other ethnocultural groups also. • There are two key needs for seniors who experience elder abuse: o A senior support group where seniors can get together to share their challenges with others who they trust. o Educational sessions for seniors – one-on-one or group sessions to learn about how they can protect themselves.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 23 Tonari Gumi: Japanese Community Volunteers Association “Stopping Elder Abuse in the BC Japanese Canadian Community” Project Objectives: • Ensure the BC Japanese Canadian Community is educated about elder abuse by holding bilingual workshops, and building community networks to establish a long term solution to reduce elder abuse. • Train seniors, community leaders and caregivers to recognize and respond to elder abuse. • Create Japanese elder abuse information, in both hardcopy and virtual formats. • Create a hotline for Japanese speaking seniors. Key Partners: • Japanese Canadian Citizens Association, Nikkei Senior Health Care & Housing Society, Steveston Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Activities: • Created Japanese Elder Abuse booklet containing information about the SAIL hotline and Japanese interpretation service for seniors who are not confident about speaking with an operator in English. Tonari Gumi contact information is also listed on the booklet so that the organization can act as a point of contact for those who feel unsure about taking the step to call SAIL. • BCCEAS presented a seminar to Tonari Gumi staff on how to identify abuse, and how to assist those who need support. • Delivered workshops at various locations in the Lower Mainland and Victoria, and distributed the information booklet to the participants. • Hosted a Poster Design Contest to raise awareness among younger generation. Outcomes: • Trained community leaders and volunteers. • Overall greater awareness and understanding of the issue. • Enhanced access to elder abuse information through hardcopy and virtual materials. Tools and Resources: • Elder abuse information booklet in Japanese. • A hotline providing Japanese interpretation to assist community members. • Workshop format with less emphasis on elder abuse to reach broader audience. Lessons Learned: • Elder abuse is a very sensitive topic in the Japanese community and workshops must be modified accordingly. • Importance of providing various examples of abuse so seniors can relate to the issue. • Engage with seniors at the workshop and promote discussion.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 24 Challenges: • Two workshops (Steveston CC and Japanese Language School) were cancelled due to the lack of interest: o Elder abuse is a very private/sensitive subject that for some seniors, especially among older generations, it is not the topic to discuss in public. o Elder abuse is often seen as a private family issue. Participating in a seminar of this nature may imply that you have a family problem you wish to address. o People are less likely to attend a workshop with a negative title or theme. o A lecture-style workshop, even with an interpreter, may make it difficult for some seniors to absorb all the information. o Difficult to ask questions or openly discuss the issue in a formal setting. o Younger generations are too busy with parenting and working, and no time to attend workshops. • Learning from 2 cancellations, we created new ways to reach the community: o Informal Talk session (20-30 min) at a smaller seniors’ gathering. o “The Seniors’ Safety Living Guide”, which includes other topics, such as online safety, fraud prevention, fall prevention, advance care planning to promote overall safety for seniors. o A Poster Design Contest for elementary school children to raise awareness among younger generations and promote discussion at home. • Even after learning about the issue, many seniors find seeking help very difficult. For Sustainability: • The following organizations will have Japanese/English elder abuse prevention booklets available for the community: Vancouver Buddhist Temple, Steveston Buddhist Temple, Steveston Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, and Consulate General of Japan (currently under discussion). • Continue to be a part of the Mount Pleasant Community Response Network to raise awareness within the neighbourhood community. • Tonari Gumi will continue to update its “Seniors’ Safety Living” web page and provide updated information about elder abuse. The training materials will be made available to other groups within the community. Additional Planned Activities (at various stages of development): • Participate in National Seniors Day event with Mount Pleasant CRN. • Steveston Buddhist Temple Workshop - in discussion with the Temple to organize Advance Care Planning/Elder Abuse workshops in September. • At the monthly Seniors’ gathering group (“Minna-no-Tsudoi”) in September, Tonari Gumi will present the 2nd part of the “Seniors’ Safety Living Guide” workshop. • Hoping to create ongoing intergenerational activities at Tonari Gumi with Japanese- speaking seniors, such as reading or craft time for kids.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 25 Vancouver Police Department (VPD) Domestic Violence, Criminal Harassment and Elder Abuse Unit “Safety and Awareness for Elders (S.A.F.E.)”
Project Objectives: • Increase awareness and education for seniors about elder abuse, targeting communities that show higher than average risk factors. • Provide programming and information sessions for diverse communities, in multiple languages, and through different modes of dissemination, and training for community organizations. • Increase reporting of these offences and decrease all forms of elder abuse around Vancouver. • Create positive, collaborative and trusting relationships between communities and the VPD.
Key Partners: • Family Services of Greater Vancouver; BC Centre for Elder Advocacy and Support (Seniors Abuse and Information Line); Vancouver Community Policing Centres Societies; MOSAIC (Multilingual Orientation Service Association for Immigrant Communities); QMUNITY (Queer Resource Centre); City of Vancouver; Vancouver Coastal Health-ReACT.
Activities: • Hosted 12 community presentations to interested organizations, front-line workers and seniors; developed materials and resources, including a website. • Launched Safety Awareness For Elders (S.A.F.E.) program on June 15, 2016, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, with speeches and some high profile recent examples of local elder abuse. • Members of S.A.F.E. educate seniors, family members and caregivers about recognizing the signs of abuse and provide prevention tips and key resources to seniors at risk.
Outcomes: • Increased: o participation by seniors and organizations in programs and initiatives hosted by VPD about elder abuse prevention; o understanding by victims and potential victims of the dynamics surrounding elder abuse; o knowledge and awareness by the general public of elder abuse , what it constitutes and how to respond; o reporting to VPD about actions of abuse that constitute crimes (financial, fraud, theft etc.; assault; sexual assault; neglect, not providing the necessities of life; assistance requested; disturbance; domestic assault; verbal assault; fear for life); o understanding about the level and types of abuse occurring; o requests for resources and strategies to deal with abuse; o number of case files on elder abuse.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 26 Tools and Resources: • PowerPoints for community presentations. • S.A.F.E Wallet Cards translated into Cantonese and Punjabi that provide contact numbers for assistance. • Posters emphasizing the message – “Be Safe – Be Strong”. o Posters are currently highly visible at Canada Line and Sky Train line hubs and will be in over 10 bus shelters around Vancouver during the month of July 2016. • Webpages dedicated to Elder Abuse prevention on VPD’s website discuss abuse, both criminal and non-criminal and provide resources and phone numbers. Easy access through the S.AF.E. button from page of the VPD website. http://vancouver.ca/police/ organization/investigation/investigative-services/special-investigation/elder- abuse.html • Considering producing the S.A.F.E. wallet cards as magnets also. Lessons Learned: • A project coordinator would have greatly helped in developing the marketing materials. • The Transit Shelter Advertising Program provides free marketing space for campaigns. • Submit an application as soon as possible. Spaces are limited and are in high demand. • Many marketing firms take on good will projects, but there is a great demand for free marketing. Requires a request well in advance – at least six months. For Sustainability: • S.A.F.E. is a foundational legacy program that is now established in VPD’s Elder Abuse Unit, and will be used as a platform for education and prevention information for seniors. • VPD Elder Abuse Unit is available to all groups interested in being educated about the S.A.F.E. program. • Partners BCCEAS, MOSAIC, Vancouver Community Policing Centres Societies, QMUNITY, Vancouver Coastal Health and Family Services of Greater Vancouver are encouraged to urge their staff to participate in S.A.F.E. training at no cost to them, or to their organizations. • Key partners have agreed to disseminate the S.A.F.E. resources. • Awareness about the program will be maintained through social media, using the VPD website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 27 West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund (WCLEAF) “Supporting Elders Fleeing Abuse in the Family Context”
Project Objectives: A public legal education project – legal information handbook and a workshop curriculum, delivered in person and via webinar – to support front-line responders to provide information on legal issues, including family law, to older women fleeing abusive relationships.
Key Partners: • Canadian Centre for Elder Law Activities: • Developed and provided workshops (in-person and by webinar) “Older Women’s Rights Matter: Providing Better Support with Legal Issues in the Context of Abuse”; focus on legal issues facing older women who are leaving, or considering leaving their homes due to violence. • Handbook subject areas include capacity and decision-making rights, powers of attorney and representation agreements, property and pension division, and protection orders. • Workshop subject areas also include protection orders and peace bonds; the role of health authorities as designated agencies; an introduction to the role of the public guardian and trustee; revoking powers of attorney and representation agreements; basics of CPP, GIS, and OAS; and other steps to protect property in the context of abuse.
Outcomes: • Older women are better resourced to leave abusive relationships. • Front-line responders have increased capacity to provide accurate legal information to older women fleeing abuse, and better understand the challenges and legal issues facing diverse older women fleeing abuse.
Tools and Resources: • Workshop/webinar - “Older Women’s Rights Matter: Providing Better Support with Legal Issues in the Context of Abuse”. • “Roads to Safety: Legal Information for Older Women in BC” legal handbook in plain language in English, available at: www.westcoastleaf.org/roads. Audience: older women fleeing abuse, and reference guide for service providers and community groups. • Wallet card – being translated into Arabic, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Filipino (Tagalog), French (Canadian), Hindi, Persian (Farsi), Punjabi, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese, as well as one focussed on services for Indigenous women.
Lessons Learned: • Importance of reaching service providers with printed information, written at Grade 4 level, downloadable in pdf format, with information laid out in lists with bullets. A slogan on resource material (“you are not alone”) was helpful. Have a two-page spread solely for multilingual emergency information, located prominently at the start of the handbook. • Critical to bring together family law, elder law and other areas of law; and the anti- violence sector together with senior-serving organizations and frontline workers to better coordinate.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 28 • Women need access to more comprehensive resources so that they don’t have to bounce around from one agency to another. • To meet the needs of older women who often face the greatest barriers in access to justice, resources must integrate information from the Mental Health Act, laws governing resources on reserve, and immigration law. • Need nuance when discussing service providers’ decision to report suspected abuse/ neglect or not, barring a legal duty, and need to balance: a) senior’s loss of power with respect to decision-making rights if the abuse is reported by the service provider; and b) the senior may be at greater risk if the service provider does not report.
Challenges: • Diversity of the audience requires that resources include a vast amount of information. In future, would like to create a series of pull-out, stand-alone resources for older women and retain the larger legal handbook for service providers. • Challenging to determine what each target audience wanted to learn. Next time, will undertake an online survey ahead of time to ascertain desired learnings. • The need to speak slowly during webinars to increase accessibility. An approximate transcript will be provided for those who have hearing challenges. For Sustainability: • The webinar has been recorded and is available for viewing on YouTube, linked via the project website. The handbook is available for downloading. The workshop will be offered into the future, if funding is obtained or if a fee is charged. The next scheduled workshop is on July 7th at Options in Surrey. • Existence of the handbook has been advertised (through an email blast and social media) to a large number of organizations. • A presentation on the project was made at a meeting of the Adult Abuse & Neglect Collaborative, reaching representatives of many of the Health Authorities across BC. • The BC Association of Community Response Networks booked West Coast LEAF to present at their online Provincial Learning Event in October 2016. • Plan to approach Legal Services Society to distribute print and electronic versions of the booklet, and translate it into additional languages.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 29 West End Seniors’ Network (WESN) “West End Collaborative to Address Abuse of Elderly Renters”
Project Objectives: To share information and resources with building and residential managers in the West End of Vancouver, in order to support older adult renters experiencing housing challenges and to raise awareness about elder abuse.
Key Partners: St Paul’s Anglican Church Advocacy Office and Gordon Neighbourhood House (GNH)
Activities: • Hosted training workshops; “train the trainer” provided by BC Association of Community Response Networks (BCCRN), using “It’s Not Right” workshop, for staff/ volunteers of partner agencies; elder abuse presentation. • Interactive workshops on landlord tenancy legislation and its relation to elder abuse were provided to WESN staff/volunteers, partner organizations. • New materials and adapted BCCRN workshop and presentation materials; Excel spreadsheet developed for documenting clients served by housing support programs in West End. • Developed a client consent form (consent by tenants for inclusion in the process to document issues they face) that will be piloted in the St. Paul’s Hospital Elder Care Ambulatory Clinic. • Developed the Seniors Tenancy Assistance Resource Centre (STARC) as a warehouse for housing support resources in the West End (see below for components). The documentation system for issues (including elder abuse) can then be used if the issue is escalated to the Residential Tenancy Branch.
Outcomes: Shared information and resources to support West End older adult renters experiencing housing challenges: • Surveys were developed to help volunteers collect information from building managers. • Offered a networking event for West End building managers, which included the elder abuse presentation. The event was promoted through social networking. • Landlord BC promoted workshops in their monthly e-newsletter, and BCNPHA promoted the program in their monthly e newsletter. • Presented about elder abuse at Hollyburn Properties’ building managers meeting in March.
Tools and Resources: STARC – electronic registry of all tenants and issues (confidential) includes: 1. Tenant intake/history form and complaint form; includes 16 common complaints covered by Residential Tenancy Regulations 2. Release form (explaining what WESN does and does not do)
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 30 3. Training procedure for new volunteer/staff
Documentation includes: 1. A copy of tenancy agreement (if available) 2. A copy of identification (e.g., drivers licence, passport, other with picture if possible) 3. A copy of any correspondence between management and tenant 4. Any other relevant documents.
Lessons Learned: • Volunteers reported having trouble getting ‘face-to-face’ with building and residential managers as they were not willing to spend time with volunteers and were not willing to fill out a survey. The approach to delivering resources was revised - volunteers completed the building information survey only, and left an envelope with program information, elder abuse information and resources. Challenges: • Building managers were not prepared to spend time with the volunteers. • Recruiting and maintaining volunteers. • Building relationships with organizations. • There is a requirement that the full “It’s Not Right: Neighbours, Friends and Families” presentation be used when making presentations. But, it was too general for the specific purposes of this project and, when combined with the tenancy information, it became too long.
For Sustainability: • STARC will be incorporated into the current housing support offered by WESN. St Paul’s Anglican Church Advocacy Office will also be incorporating STARC into their housing support program. WECHCPC and the local MLA community office will be referring older adults (55 years of age or older) requesting housing support to WESN. If the tenant is younger than 55 years of age, they will be referred to St Paul’s Anglican Church Advocacy Office. • The housing documentation and accompanying training workshop could be shared with and delivered to other organizations. WESN could also present on this project to other organizations.
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 31 Contact List Association of Neighbourhood Houses of BC • Jessie Sutherland: [email protected]
BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres • Jamin Zuroski: [email protected]
BC Association of Community Response Networks • Sherry Baker: [email protected]
BC Centre for Elder Advocacy and Support • Lin Chen: [email protected]
BC Crime Prevention Association • Carolyn Sinclair: [email protected]
• Celine Lee: [email protected]
Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health, University of Victoria • Karen Kobayashi: [email protected]
Kwadacha Nation • Susan Hatfield: [email protected]
Network of Inner City Community Services Society • Kellie Carroll: [email protected]
Simon Fraser University, Gerontology Research Centre • Gloria M. Gutman: [email protected]
SUCCESS: • Mary Kam: [email protected]
Tonari Gumi, Japanese Community Volunteers Association • Yuki Tani: [email protected]
Vancouver Police Dept., Domestic Violence & Criminal Harassment/Elder Abuse Unit • Benedikte Wilkinson: [email protected]
West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund • Basya Laye: [email protected]
• Alana Prochuk: [email protected]
West End Seniors’ Network • Veronica Page: [email protected]
• Anthony Kuperfschmidt: [email protected]
Council to Reduce Elder Abuse ReduceElderAbuseBC.ca 32