P-736 - Discrimination of older people in Serbia

Abstract

Each year hundreds of thousands of older persons are abused, neglected and exploited by family members and others. Red Cross of Serbia and Humanas network started a campaign of sensitisation the public in relation to discrimination, neglect and abuse of older people. Education of volunteers in Elder Abuse and Discrimination topic has been organized along with survey on this topic. A survey has been done in 8 cities in Serbia. Sample : Volunteers polled 250 older people on the topic of abuse; 250 persons of both sexes, age 65 or above participated in the survey. Results The survey result that demonstrates that 44% of all the polled people have learned of the existence of abuse. It is also clear that there is a cause for alarm after learning that as high as 32% of older people have been exposed to some form of abuse, with the most frequent form being verbal abuse (11.2%) The polled older people have stressed that they hate being called names, made fun of and called stupid or illiterate. It takes place not just within families but in the general communities too. As for prevention, 52% of the polled older people think that 'everybody‘, meaning both public and civil sector should play a role in prevention. Conclusion The problem of abuse of older people has to be approached from a multi-sector and multi-disciplinary perspective. The emphasis should be on new, deeper surveys, education of professionals as well as family members and other care takers.