‘Granny Battering’. We all do it.

In 1975, ‘Granny-battering’, was a term first introduced by a British psychiatrist A.A. Baker, as a form of euphemism for ill-treatment of older people. Of concern to Baker was the lack of priority given to the care of elderly people. (Baker)  According to the WHO, it was the very first definition of the elder abuse, which is a very under-researched and of limited priority in most world regions. Every year, 15th of June is marked as Elder Abuse Awareness Day. 

We have all done it in some form or the other, at some point of time. In varying degrees ranging from a sheer neglect to physical, psychological, financial or emotional retort or reaction, our condition and stress irrespective. Not having time, to make a daily/frequent essential call to your elderly (grand)mother, a rushed hanging up on her, or abruptly snubbing her lack of knowledge about today’s environment, is depriving her of an intimate social dose of love and dignity. That is sheer neglect for you. God forbid if any of us are worse than that. For it’s not karmic reason, we should dread the same being done to us in the future. It is about sheer respect and dignity, which all of us seek and are entitled to.  Especially now, the pandemic too has not helped much, by putting us all together in a tinderbox. No need for a spark.  

Abuse hurts in any form or age and is unacceptable. There is a penchant to compare elder abuse with child abuse, though the differences are many more than similarities.  The dismal social and media attention accorded to elder abuse also in turn deprives it the benefit of resource allocation to help in its identification, management and avoidance (F & M, 2000). A case in point - North American government spent $22 per child on youth protective services, and only $2.90 per older person for similar services (Lett, 1995). We cannot fathom even  the tip of the iceberg, when contextualized  in the global context of underdeveloped and developing countries. 

Such approach and thinking, exemplifies the norm, wherein we see children as the future, and the aged as a past. It is unfortunate when the older person ends up being viewed less than fully human, resulting in not given the respect as deserving to normal humans. (Steven, 1989)

The future doesn’t bode well if we consider the fact that 1 in 6 elderly are currently being exposed to some form of abuse basis a global prevalence of 15.7%. That is 141 million elderly people on a 2015 population estimate out of 901 million people aged 60 and above. In 2050 when we have an elderly population at 2 billion, we are looking at 330 million elderly being abused at current prevalence rate. (Yongjie, Christopher, Zachary, & Kathleen, 2017). For perspective, that is the size of US population today! 

The WHO classified elderly abuse in three broad categories (2008):

1.     Neglect, including isolation, abandonment and social exclusion. 

2.     Violation of human, legal and medical rights. 

3.     Deprivation of choices, decision, status, finances and respect

The difficulty is in trying to establish the incidence of abuse. It’s prevalence is challenging as both the victim and the abuser underplay the seriousness of problem. Institutional care too have rising incidences of such abuses, which is raising alarm in the care sector.  A lot of times it’s the pressure on the caregivers too, that results in such outbursts. Furthermore, the cultural, regional and terminology nuances accentuates the identification and management of elder abuse. 

It is worthy to list briefly five major theories behind the causations of elder abuse (F & M, 2000):

Impairment of the elderly - Both physical and mental impairment, leads to over dependence resulting in vulnerability to neglect and abuse.

• Psycho-pathology of the abuser – This focuses on research depicting the abusers having a personality disorder or defects.
• Trans-generational violence – According to this theory, children (probably abused themselves) view violent behaviours as acceptable after observing it in immediate/extended families. This results in spouse abuse/child abuse, taking the shape of parental abuse. 
• Caregiver Stress – General Practitioners are frequently consulted by the caregiver with regards stress-related concerns. 
• Exchange Theory – This postulates the assumption that the abuser will repeatedly abuse as long as he/she gains form it. 

Elder abuse is one of the fastest emerging form of abuse. Physical abuse is the most common type of elder abuse followed by psychological, financial abuse and in some cases sexual abuse. There is an emerging need to elaborate efforts in preventing as well as supporting victims of abuse. The Health sector has an important role to play, given the health consequences as an outcome of elder abuse. To have a reduction in elder abuse worldwide, it should be treated as a public health priority in turn seen as an investment in conceptualizing and assessing elder abuse interventions. (Pelog, Fear, Hutchison, MacMillan, & Bolan, 2009). 

Alongside Health sector, community plays a very critical part. The capacity of local environment, social groups, community centres to identify elder abuse cannot be undervalued. In Singapore, to mind comes SGAssist, as a remarkable example of for profit community stepping in as Caregivers. This in turn enables them to play a default role of detection and thereby prevention in highlighting the issue of neglect and abuse. Complemented by wholistic initiatives’ driven by AIC - Agency of Integrated Care, ensures the government, private health institutions, NGO’s and Community Care have a pulse on the ground. 

Elder abuse is NOT OK. Pledge, to keep a look out for signs in the immediate vicinity. Our neighbourhood. Our community. By not speaking or taking action we should hold ourselves accountable for our cowardice in addressing violation of a serious human rights. Listen and you may just hear the battering. Because when we protect our elders, we protect ourselves. 

Published on LinkedIn June 15, 2021

Works Cited
Steven, O. (1989). Age and vulnerability. . London: Age Concern England .

Pelog, J., Fear, J., Hutchison, B., MacMillan, H., & Bolan, G. (2009). A Systemtatic REview of Interventions for Elder Abuse. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect. Vol. 21, 2187-210.

F, G., & M, H. (2000). Abuse in elderly people: the Granny Battering revisited. Archives of Geronotlogy and Geriatrics, PAges 215-220.

Lett, J. (1995). Abuse of the elderly. The Journal of the Florida Medical Association, 675-678.