THUNDER BAY – The Community Elder Abuse Prevention Committee is launching their DVD, titled Senior Social Refresh, on Monday, November 26th at Mary J L Black Library from 1:00-3:00 pm. Coffee and Cake will be provided. This DVD was created with support from the New Horizons for Seniors Program and will be used as a tool to bring awareness to the problem of senior-to-senior bullying.
10-20% of older adults experience some form of senior-to-senior bullying, usually by way of verbal aggression.
Older adults can be the targets of bullying or can be responsible for bullying other older adults in retirement homes or other shared living situations. The effects on older adults who are bullied can include withdrawing from social activities, low self-esteem, depression, and even being forced to move out of their current home.
The Community Elder Abuse Prevention Committee was successful in the grant process and received approval and funding from the Government of Canada New Horizons for Seniors Program. They hired Salute Consulting to help plan and facilitate their project and Heather Cummins is the project lead. They held focus groups with local older adults who were living in communal spaces and asked them what they faced when it came to social situations. Heather compiled their stories and with help from Eric Weller (MHR Media) and his team at Confederation College, created four vignettes that show what bullying can look like and how conflict can be mediated. All of the actors in the video are volunteer older adults and students from Confederation College.
The committee hopes to use this DVD as an education and awareness tool and will share it with any interested groups in the hopes of decreasing senior-to-senior bullying that is occurring in our city of Thunder Bay.
About the Community Elder Abuse Prevention Committee
Mission Statement: The Community Elder Abuse Prevention Committee is a network of individuals who are committed to improving the safety and well-being of seniors within Thunder Bay, through advocacy, education, and awareness of the prevention of elder abuse.
Objectives:
- To create and publish resources to support the safety and well-being of seniors
- To educate the community about elder abuse and its prevention
- To plan and develop annual goals for the committee
