Elder Mediation Australasian Network - EMAN

The link above is for a You Tube video made by Legal Services SA for APEA (the Alliance for the Prevention of Elder Abuse). It features advice from the 5 member agencies of APEA.

2018 Bristol Summit Registration now available
Check out the latest information on the upcoming EMIN World Summit in Bristol, England. The Summit registration form is now available online at:
https://elder-mediation-international.net/bristol-england-2018/

Thursday, 13 July

Older people now account for an increasing share of the population—15% of Australians were aged 65 and over in 2014, compared to 8% in 1964. In addition, there has been a ninefold increase in the number of people aged 85 and over, up to 456,600 or 1.9% of the population in 2014. These trends are predicted to continue into the future, particularly as the baby boomer generation ages. Based on population projections by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, by 2064 there will be 9.6 million people aged 65 and over (including 1.9 million aged 85 and over) constituting 23% of Australia’s projected population.

Join your WA Chapter and our guest speaker Associate Prof. Dale Bagshaw for a discussion on the challenges and the opportunities for elder mediation in this scenario.

Resolution Institute thanks Jackson McDonald who are generously hosting this event.

ADRAC gratefully acknowledges the suggestions and input of Associate Professor Dale Bagshaw who kindly reviewed this paper.

At present, all DR processes are available to any member of the community, regardless of age. This article concentrates on the use of what is called Elder Mediation for disputes involving older people because it is the most widely used DR process in this context.

http://www.adrac.org.au/adr-mapping/dr-older-people-and-elder-mediation 

My Mediation Options – A Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Perspective Project

Catalyst Foundation (formally the Seniors Information Service SA) received funding from Multicultural SA for a project which aimed to raise awareness of the types and prevalence of elder abuse and of preventative services for CALD seniors who are at risk of or who are experiencing domestic violence or elder abuse. The project also aimed to increase the capacity and confidence of service providers and ‘community champions’ to prevent and respond more effectively to abuse towards CALD seniors. The primary focus of the Project was to raise awareness of the types and prevalence of elder abuse and of preventative services for CALD seniors who are at risk of or experiencing domestic violence or elder abuse. One goal was to increase awareness and the capacity and confidence of service providers and community groups, to help prevent and respond more effectively to domestic violence and abuse towards CALD seniors. The project also sought to improve engagement between organisations and will continue to support communities to utilise practical solutions for dealing with issues of abuse and violence against CALD seniors.  We conducted community surveys and trained  identified community champions by offering three three-hour sessions on ‘Ageing in a Foreign Land’, ‘Elder Abuse’ and ‘Conflict Resolution, Mediation and Advocacy’ conducted by Associate Professor Dale Bagshaw. The two focus areas were the Adelaide metropolitan region and the Whyalla region.

The Catalyst Foundation ‘My Mediation Options’  Steering Committee was chaired by Ms Jenny Hughes, Chief Executive, Catalyst Foundation and Mr Sasha Drogovelic, Team Leader, and was made up of representatives from the University of South Australia (Associate Professor Dale Bagshaw), Relationships Australia SA (Ms Virginia Leeuwenbuerg) , Office of the Public Advocate (Ms Elly Nitschke), Multicultural Communities Council of SA (Ms Helena Kyriazopoulos),  Multicultural Aged Care (Ms Vicki Kanakaris), South Australian Police (Dr Juma Abuyi) and Aged Rights Advocacy Service (Ms Doris)

Rae Kaspiew, Rachel Carson and Helen Rhoades, Research Report No. 35 — February 2016.           https://aifs.gov.au/publications/elder-abuse                   This Report is now published on the Australian Institute of Family Studies website and provides an overview of elder abuse in Australia – including its characteristics, context, and prevention.

The South Australian Office for the Ageing (OFTA) has developed a public awareness campaign on safeguarding the rights of older South Australians and elder abuse. The campaign aims to safeguard older people against elder abuse and to help the South Australian community to recognise the signs and to take action if they suspect abuse is occurring.

Website address: www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/stopelderabuse

Family Mediation and Counselling Victoria and Benetas have launched a Seniors Mediation Program. Seniors Mediation is a unique type of mediation for elderly people and their families that uses a non-adversarial approach to resolving conflict or making important decisions. Contact: andrea.mcdougall@benetas.com.au

Seniors Victoria (page 3) has provided good coverage of research into elder mediation as a potential strategy to protect older people from financial abuse by their adult children – http://www.thesenior.com.au/News/Digital-Paper/Victoria

Here is a link to the Older People Clinical Network webpage where you will find the draft SA Health Services Plan for People with Dementia (and Delirium). The Older People Clinical Network welcomes any comments your may have on the plan.

http://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/health+reform/clinical+networks/older+people+clinical+network