Elder abuse is a heinous crime. Be it physical, financial or emotional, it is compounded when the victim comes from a different culture and is unable to communicate or ask for help in English.
A groundbreaking conference, Elder Abuse in Ethnic Communities: Victims Who Don’t Speak English, was held recently at the Bernard Betel Centre. The first of it’s kind in Ontario, it was attended by professionals working with immigrant seniors and students planning to work in the gerontology field.
Addressing issues experienced by culturally diverse older adults and those who work with them, it provided informative lectures, engaging workshops and a presentation by the Russian seniors’ drama group, that brought to life problems faced by elderly immigrants.
The conference, as well as the creation of the first Russian language resource on elder abuse, are key parts of a government of Canada NHSP grant for the ‘Silent Voices of Russian Elder Abuse Victims’ project.
Anna Grinberg, nurse clinician at the Baycrest Community Day Centre for Seniors, spoke passionately about the issues faced by immigrant seniors in general and Russian seniors in particular. She described Holocaust survivors in Russia who “didn’t have time to grieve their losses” and then faced open antisemitism in the years that followed. For those who lived through the Stalin era, secrecy and, to some extent, mistrust, became entrenched in their personalities.
Families in Russia often lived together under severely crowded conditions, which exacerbated tensions between generations and, due to the stigma attached to mental illness, depression was often left untreated, leading to problems later in life.
In Canada, the newcomer faces loss of professional and social status and financial stress. While parents are struggling to make a living, children may be expected to care for vulnerable grandparents. Conversely, grandparents may be expected to care for young children and, if they have cognitive impairment, “may not feed them” or “may let them be unkempt and unwashed.”
Language barriers lead to difficulty accessing medical care and social supports. Children often carry the burden of acting as translators for parents and grandparents. Social isolation, which may result from lack of adequate communication skills and increased family tension, can lead to mental health problems, and so the cycle continues.
Grinberg’s talk underscored the need for culturally sensitive outreach and support to the immigrant community to address their complex needs.
Judith Wahl, executive director of the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, provided a rich overview of senior’s rights and legal issues with respect to elder abuse. Workshops were held on such topics as caregiver burnout, financial abuse, the interface of culture and elder abuse and intergenerational conflict, all of which contributed to a valuable day of learning and reflection.
Judy Weinryb
www.jewishtribune.ca