Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to Ms. Oko for sharing her experiences.

Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to acknowledge that I'm speaking to you from Treaty No. 1 territory, the traditional territory of the Anishinabe, Inninewak, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and from the heart of the Métis nation.

The Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse is a national non-profit organization made up of individuals and organizations that care about older adults and the prevention of harm in later life.

Elder abuse has long been nicknamed “the silent pandemic”. It was rampant in our communities long before COVID. Like gender-based violence, it has flared under COVID and emerged as a shadow pandemic in 2020.

We all experienced the stress and impact of the pandemic. What helped many of us rise to the challenge every day was a supportive family or social group. For many older Canadians, these crucial bonds were obliterated by the pandemic. The necessity to stay home and socially distance whittled away opportunities for social interactions and access to core services.

During the first few months of the pandemic, we ran a survey to evaluate the immediate impact of COVID-19 on our members. We asked elder abuse prevention folks and senior service providers what they were experiencing and observing. When asked about the impact on the seniors they served, respondents listed “increase in elder abuse and domestic violence” as the number one issue, followed closely by “decreased access to services and supports” and “increase in social isolation”.

Social isolation is a serious public health risk, with life-threatening consequences. It can be as damaging to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It incurs negative health behaviours and decreased mental health, and it's also a risk factor for elder abuse, neglect and self-neglect. An isolated older adult may lack access to necessities, be more vulnerable to scammers and be trapped at home with their abuser, with no access to supports.

Almost 65% of our survey respondents reported the impact of COVID-19 on their programs and operations as “high”, with 83% reporting a disruption of services to clients and 46% reporting an increased demand for services. This was the perfect storm: increasingly isolated older adults in greater need of support services that were highly disrupted by the pandemic. Social distancing became a double-edged sword.

We all know what followed. Older adults living at home reported higher rates of isolation and mental health struggles. The Seniors Safety Line in Ontario reported a 250% increase in calls about elder abuse, and meanwhile, in some long-term care homes, residents endured appalling abuse and neglect.

The past year was a stress test that exposed the weaknesses in our system. Older Canadians have borne the brunt of this pandemic through deaths, isolation and decreased safety and quality of life, and they're not willing to be sacrificed and ignored anymore.

Around 90% of older Canadians live at home, and most of us hope to age in place. For this to happen safely, we need to be addressing abuse and neglect in our communities.

Our recommendations include improved training and education programs across sectors by providing adequate care for older adults in their homes and communities. We need to be focused not only on making sure that there are enough human resources to complete the assigned tasks; but older adults should also have a network of supports and community services that work well together and are trained and educated in recognizing and preventing ageism and elder abuse and are familiar with the local, regional and national resources available. The training needs to be trauma- and violence-informed, with an equity orientation to act as a bridge across sectors and mandates for a more inclusive and collaborative approach to prevention and response.

We also recommend encouraging the development of age-friendly communities and ensuring that this effort has an elder abuse prevention lens.

We know that personal support workers, also known as health care aides, have the most consistent and frequent contact with older adults receiving support in their homes and have inconsistent levels of education, training and oversight. Regulation of this role would increase protection for the public by stipulating professional responsibilities and would implement at least minimum standards for entry to the practice, as well as put processes in place for responding to complaints. Regulation would also increase safety by verifying qualifications and competencies for safe practice via a public registry and by providing information on complaints, similar to other regulatory bodies.

A key element would be minimum educational requirements and standardization of educational programs, including for trauma-informed care; dementia care; and elder abuse awareness, prevention and response, including information about the reporting process if there is suspicion of elder abuse. This would also foster safety and stability for these professionals, who are often women from racialized communities who are themselves more vulnerable.

We recommend providing sustained and appropriate funding for the elder abuse and neglect response sector on a par with domestic violence funding. In particular, we recommend providing dedicated support and funding to the CNPEA to ensure that there is a national organization dedicated to elder abuse prevention and awareness that will foster the exchange of reliable information among stakeholders and service providers across Canada.

Finally, we would recommend establishing a federal office of seniors advocate. It should provide systemic oversight and leadership on issues related to the current needs of Canadian seniors, as well as provide insight, analysis and direction to the government on the future needs of our aging population. Elder abuse and neglect awareness and response should be a key and ongoing mandate of this office.

Thank you.