Elder abuse awareness in faith communities: Findings from a Canadian pilot study

Faith communities can play a critical role in the prevention of elder abuse and neglect by fostering heightened public awareness of elder mistreatment, as well as providing services to abused elders in the community. Faith leaders are among the most likely groups of care-givers to encounter cases of elder abuse, but unfortunately not all are aware of ways of identifying and effectively dealing with abuse. Religious leaders require training to educate them about elder abuse issues to identify the important roles they can play in prevention, intervention and treatment. Pastoral workers and theology students should also be exposed to educational concepts regarding this problem. In an age of ecumenism and interfaith movements, religious leaders must become a conduit for the well-being and safety of older adults. This paper discusses exploratory work undertaken in Ontario, funded by Health Canada (Ontario Region), the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and Justice Canada to begin to uncover the extent to which faith leaders are aware of instances of elder abuse, and what they might see as their role in addressing such problems in their faith communities. A thorough literature review suggests that while considerable attention has been paid to the issue of elder abuse, researchers have not focused on the role of faith leaders in addressing this complex problem. (c) 2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.