Elder abuse abounds in TT

SENATOR PAUL RICHARDS

Photo courtesy Parliament of the Republic Trinidad and Tobago.
SENATOR PAUL RICHARDS Photo courtesy Parliament of the Republic Trinidad and Tobago.

ELDERLY people are shunted into unsuitable and unregistered old follks’ homes, and at one home in St James the elderly are mixed in with mental patients, a joint select committee (JSC) learned yesterday.

Relatives have displayed hostility when the Division of Ageing (DOA) tries to move the aged from such places, lamented a DOA official.

“We were met with such ire and abuse by family members who found nothing wrong with the homes. A lot of them return their family members (to the bad geriatric homes),” lamented DOA inspector II Gashiya Siwaju.

While some 216 out of 217 such homes are not officially registered, she said she was powerless under the law to intervene, but tries anyway. The JSC on Social Services was chaired by Paul Richards, replacing Dhanayshar Mahabir.

Division of Ageing inspector II Gashyia Siwaju testifies to the JSC. Photo courtesy Parliament of the Republic Trinidad and Tobago.

JSC member Esmond Ford complained that a home in Fort George, St James, has a mix of sane and insane patients, plus the elderly, young and middle-aged.

Richards said the mixing of sane and insane was alarming, and rather than public officials simply talking about assessing this case of vulnerable individuals, which the JSC had learnt of a whole year ago, something needed to be done to remedy it.

Siwaju said her division does not have the legal authority to decant or remove individuals despite those conditions.

“We are in a sense frustrated. We report the issue to the different streams, but there’s very little we can do.” She said the home operator is renting the property and so can’t alter it. “There’s a high turnover of staff and a high turnover of clientèle.”

While Ministry of Health attorney Bhabie Roopchand said a home’s licence can be revoked, Richards said he knew of no revocations. JSC member Glenda Jennings-Smith said an entity, the Older Persons Information Centre, had once reported abuse as occurring in 66 geriatric homes.

Siwaju said complaints to the DOA are not always simply a case of “perpetrator and victim,” but can involve complex cultural issues.

For example, “Family members may say, ‘My sister placed father in this home without permission.’”

She said the DOA had resolved 30 of the 66 cases, and in other cases could not find evidence, although, she said, “We submitted six cases to the police.”

Of these cases involving criminal intent, all are ongoing except one recently closed. Considering the gaps in the law that hamper the DOA, Jennings-Smith suggested a partial proclamation of pending new legislation.

JSC member Esmond Ford asks a question on geriatric abuse. Photo courtesy Parliament of the Republic Trinidad and Tobago.

Siwaju said caregivers must be better trained, as some don’t even know they are committing abuse by acts such as barring old people from telephone calls and visits by relatives, or denying them privacy. She added, “Inefficient management usually translates into very poorly run homes.”

“People are placed into homes by family members who have seen the bad conditions yet still place them there,” Siwahu said. “There needs to be a real public education campaign.” Richards replied, “A cultural shift in the country is required, yet often the State must set benchmarks for the standard of care.”

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