Following the publication of the Report "Abuse, Neglect and Mistreatment of Older People: an Exploratory Study" by the National Council on Ageing and Older People, I established a broad-based working group towards the end of 1999 to advise me on the formulation of procedures and guidelines on elder abuse. It is chaired by Dr. Desmond O'Neill, Consultant Physician in Medicine of Old Age. The terms of reference of the working group are to advise on the development of principles, policies and guidelines in relation to elder abuse and, in this regard, to make recommendations in relation to such of the following matters as it considers appropriate: definitions and terminology, identification and screening procedures, assessment protocols and procedures, management of sensitive information, recording and reporting procedures, inter-agency communications and referral practices, intervention issues and procedures to evaluate their impact, any necessary changes in legislation and legal procedures, training of relevant staff in the statutory, voluntary and private sectors, the need for appropriate structures to deal with elder abuse.
The group includes representatives from my Department, health boards, the Garda, the National Council on Ageing and Older People, the Irish Nursing Homes Organisation, the Association of Home Help Organisers and voluntary organisations who represent the interests of older people. The group also includes a consultant physician in geriatric medicine, a consultant in the psychiatry of old age, a consultant psychiatrist, a general practitioner and a clinical psychologist. It has drawn up a comprehensive two year work programme which will involve, inter alia, development of a training brief, the organisation of pilot projects, implementation of awareness and training programmes, preparation of evaluation report, and culminating in the presentation of a final report to me. I am providing significant resources to ensure that the work is completed within the time frame envisaged.
Draft policies, procedures and guidelines, drawn up by the working group, are at present being tested in pilot projects which were recently commenced in two community care areas. Training programmes have been provided for staff members and ongoing evaluation is taking place. The main purpose of the evaluation is to assess whether the draft policies, procedures and guidelines in the identification, assessment and management of elder abuse, are appropriately designed and effective in the two health board areas. The working group has met on 15 occasions. It set a deadline of 31 December 2001 to issue a report and recommendations. Although valuable time was lost in getting people together for training sessions, due to the foot and mouth restrictions, the group is reasonably confident of finishing its work within the target date.
The group will not be issuing any interim reports. I look forward to receiving the working group's report.