3 weeks ago
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This week is being observed as Elder Abuse Awareness Week, and the National Council on Aging (NCA) is on a countrywide tour to spread awareness. Today, the traveling event made its way to Belize City, where the NCA teamed up with HelpAge Belize and the Health Education and Community Participation Bureau (HECOPAB) to engage the public. The event featured booths where visitors could learn about elder abuse, discover available resources for older persons, and receive basic services such as blood pressure and blood sugar checks. Ix-Chel Poot, Executive Director of the NCA, spoke about the initiative’s aim.
Ix-Chel Poot, Executive Director, National Council on Aging: “The informational pop-ups are set up to provide accessible service to older persons and the community all in one spot. So at each of the pop-ups you can get a very basic health check at HECOPAB, go through some information. We know that a large percentage of our older persons have chronic conditions; this is diabetes, hypertension it’s always important to be able to know what your numbers are in these cases and also to get nutritional information. We also have a Help Age booth so older persons know what organizations exist in their community, how they can join a community, for persons in the public, how they can volunteer and support the ongoing work in their local community with older persons. The Council on Aging booth, of course, we’re re-raising awareness about elder abuse and also about the Convention on the Rights of Older Persons which government signed in 2024. So we’re informing older persons about their rights, how they can go about claiming their rights and some of the changes that need to take place for their rights to be respected. And then we have the Ministry of Human Development who’s wrapping us off with providing information, but also referral for services and if you have an older person that you believe is a victim of elder abuse or is in an abusive situation you can make a referral right there to have a wellness check done, which is the first step in getting help for a vulnerable older person.”
Poot also discussed the major types of elder abuse prevalent in Belize and their frequency.
Ix-Chel Poot, Executive Director, National Council on Aging: “There are seven main types of elder abuse that have been identified. These include neglect, abandonment, sexual abuse, financial abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and also self-neglect. These encompass the way that we treat older persons. It’s important to note that in elder abuse it is things that we do and things that we don’t do that is often considered abuse and that’s where we get into the area of neglect. Neglect is one of the main types of abuse that we see among older persons. Persons who have elderly person in their care and are not providing for them as they need to be provided for. Not taking them to their hospital visits as much as they need to have, having just a bare amount of medication available or not paying attention to their nutritional needs. These are all forms of neglect that do take place. Mostly we see that there are very few things that are available for older persons to be able to enjoy and recreate. So if you have an older person at home, someone who you are taking care of, it’s important to know that an older person needs more than just to be fed and clean. They also need the social aspect, to be connected to their friends, to their families, to their community and that social connection is one of the things that wards off dementia and other lifestyle sicknesses and improves your quality of life as you age. And also that social aspect is what helps to prevent elder abuse from taking place. We find that when an older person is left alone for long periods of time, that is where you would find the incidences of abuse to become more prevalent.”
The next stop on the tour is Central Park in Punta Gorda next Wednesday.
English (US) ·