Goal 5 of the Positive Ageing Strategy

For people to age positively they need to feel safe, secure and connected to others in their communities.

Details below about this goal are taken from the 2014 report on the Positive Ageing Strategy, published in April 2015.  Your feedback will help inform the next comprehensive update due to be carried out in 2017.

More information and references are available by downloading a full copy of the report.

Ageing in the Community: key achievements

• Providing elder abuse and neglect prevention service
• Supporting carers through the New Zealand Carers’ Strategy Action Plan
• Providing local solutions to address social isolation

What’s happening?

Older people are less likely than others to be victims of crime

Older people are less likely to be victims of crime than those in other age groups, and crime victimisation reduces significantly with age. The most recent record of crime victimisation by age showed that 20 percent of people aged 60-plus were the victims of crime, compared with 55 percent of those aged 15–24.

Social isolation is likely to increase

Research indicates that around 10 percent of older people (65,000) are socially isolated, with a further 12 percent at risk of becoming so. These figures are likely to rise significantly in the next few decades, due to projected increases in:

• the number of older people, particularly those aged 80-plus
• the proportion of older people affected by social isolation, reflecting the declining home-ownership rate and the current rate of material hardship among those aged 45–64.

The benefits of action on social isolation

Research suggests that initiatives aimed at reducing social isolation among older people have the potential to:

• improve their health and wellbeing
• reduce elder abuse and neglect
• increase their participation in society, such as through paid work and caring, volunteering and community services

• provide economic benefits by preventing or delaying the need for more intensive and costly care. 

Elder abuse and neglect is expected to increase

Every year, around 3–10 percent of older people are subjected to abuse – be it physical, psychological, sexual or financial – and intentional or unintentional neglect. This can have wide-ranging and long-term effects on their physical and mental health, finances, living arrangements and family relationships. Family members are often the perpetrators of abuse and neglect.

Elder abuse and neglect is expected to increase as New Zealand’s population ages.

Family carers are increasingly under pressure

Research is emerging, both in New Zealand and internationally, about the ‘sandwich’ generation – people who care for both their children (or grandchildren) and their parents. This situation can be difficult to manage, especially among carers who are also working, and could become more so as people live longer and delay having children.

Examples of services, programmes and research

MSD – Elder abuse and neglect prevention services

The Government part funds community organisations to provide 27 elder abuse and neglect prevention services around New Zealand, costing approximately $1.7 million a year. Age Concern delivers 19 of these services and provides training and co-ordination for all services.

MSD – Understanding and addressing social isolation

MSD is working to better understand, identify and address social isolation among older people, and reviewing the training for those in government and community organisations who work with older people and their families.

MSD – Supporting carers of older people

The Government has recently released the New Zealand Carers’ Strategy Action Plan for 2014 to 2018. Its vision is that New Zealand is a society that values people who support those who need help with their everyday living. The Plan outlines the work needed to achieve this vision in the next five years.

Napier Connects – helping address social isolation

In 2012 MSD and the Department of Internal Affairs worked with community groups and Napier City Council to support Napier Connects – a community-led initiative to address social isolation among older people. It focuses on building networks, initiating projects, developing resources and identifying services (and the lack of them).

WellElder – Counselling services for older people

Funded by Capital & Coast DHB, WellElder provides affordable counselling services in Wellington and Kāpiti for people aged 60-plus, or 55-plus for Māori and Pasifika peoples. Clients can access the services at WellElder’s four locations or, where they have mobility issues, counsellors provide home and rest-home consultations. Older people’s main reasons for accessing the services are relationship issues, health issues, grief and loss, anxiety and depression.

Research – Older people living alone

A research group from the University of Waikato, funded by a grant from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, has recently looked at the question of: ‘How do older people participate positively in society?’

The research has included interviewing older people living alone about the factors that:

• constitute a ‘meaningful life’ for them: responses included having a structure/routine, visiting grandchildren, working and volunteering – as part of the week’s activities – and being valued and appreciated, particularly by younger generations
• limit their ability to live alone: responses included poor or declining health, loneliness and a sense of social isolation, lack of mobility or transport, difficulty in decision-making and limited financial skills.

So how are we doing?

It’s important that older people are supported to stay, if they choose to, in their own homes so that they can maintain their community connections.

Unfortunately, ageing brings with it an increased risk of elder abuse and neglect and social isolation. While there are services available to address this, the increasing ethnic diversity among older people will challenge those services and highlight the need to:

• promote awareness of, and prevent, elder abuse and neglect in the wider community
• ensure that older people people have access to services in their local areas.

While the increasing rate of socially isolation is concerning, some regional activities (such as Napier Connects) are helping encourage older people to become more engaged in their community. These provide good examples for other organisations to follow.

What do you think?

1. What are the underlying causes of elder abuse and neglect, and how should we address them?
2. How could government and community organisations, communities and individuals work better together to address the issue of social isolation?
3. Have you had any experience of government, community organisations, and individuals working well together to address social isolation? What can we learn from that?

If you would like to share with us your views on Goal 5, then please send us an email.