Preventing the abuse of yourself
- Stay as active as you can – go on outings with friends; volunteer; join a gym; visit neighbours
- Maintain your friendships and maintain contact with loved ones
- Have any cheques that you may receive, i.e., pension cheques automatically deposited to your bank account
- Have bills, such as your telephone bill, automatically paid from your bank account
- Get legal advise when creating, and/or have a lawyer draw up a Power of Attorney for Property and/or Power of Attorney for Personal Care for you
- Only grant attorneyship (as in a Continuing Power of Attorney for Property and/or a Power of Attorney for Personal Care) to someone, or some people, that you know you can trust, and whom you know will respect your wishes
- Write into your Continuing Power of Attorney for Property instructions regarding when it is to come into effect
- Attend educational seminars/sessions that are being offered in your community regarding the abuse of older adults, your rights, senior’s safety, etc.
Preventing the abuse of older adults
- Educate yourself about the abuse of older adults and the rights of older adults
- Become involved in your local abuse of older adults Committee or Network and encourage the development of educational sessions for older adults on their rights
- Learn about the rights of seniors and explain these rights to older adults that you know
- Listen to older adults – take time when speaking to them about their current situation and offer suggestions regarding how they might keep themselves, and their assets, safe
- Take an older friend out to lunch, visit them, call them to see how they are doing – in short, keep in touch older adult family members and friends
For further information
The Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse’s Website: www.cnpea.ca
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