More and more old people are suffering from abuse and neglect. Rambam Health Care Campus (RHCC) is seeking to help those affected, and to raise public awareness of this problem

• Since 1995, Israel’s general population has grown 3.9 times larger. The number of elderly inhabitants has become eight times as large, from 85,200 to 702,000. This means that the growth rate of the aged is twice as much as that for the population at-large.

• In the western world, it is estimated that between three and ten percent of the elderly population suffers from abuse and/or negligence.

• In a national survey held in Israel in 2005, results indicated that 18% of all old people interviewed, both Jews and Arabs, had been exposed to some type of harm during the previous year (Iskovitz, Winter, Stein  and Levernstein, 2005)
The Department of Social Work at Rambam Health Care Center (RHCC) in Haifa is working to raise consciousness about, and reduce incidents of elderly abuse. Toward this goal, the department is holding lectures and workshops for teams in different units of the hospital, and within the framework of the community (in homes for senior citizens, nursing companies). It has also dedicated a section of its website to the subject written by an expert in this area, Social Worker Shiri Shanan-Altman (www.rambam.org.il). In addition, the hospital has posted signs aimed at patients, guests and staff, describing this phenomenon and where to turn for help. Among these and other related activities, Rambam is marking the International Day for the Prevention of Family Violence. 

To advance knowledge of this subject, RHCC houses collaborative research among different disciplines. Recently, the Department of Social Work requested that other hospital units step up their alertness and report suspected incidents of abuse or neglect of elderly people.

Rambam’s Department of Social Work is faced repeatedly with serious related events, which are on the increase. There is a great lack of social awareness of this phenomenon, also among seniors themselves, who may be undergoing abuse or neglect, or experiencing fear and shame. This is just one of the reasons no exact data are available on the scope of this phenomenon.

Abuse and neglect of the elderly is defined by the World Health Organization as a health problem that constitutes a number of types of abuse: physical, sexual, emotional, material/ economic, and human rights, as well as neglect. “This is a sensitive and painful subject that, unfortunately, is widespread in our society,” said Social Worker Shanan-Altman, coordinator of elderly abuse at Rambam. “There is not enough social awareness and we must make greater efforts to answer the needs of these people and erase this phenomenon.

According to Social Worker Roni Gagin, head of Rambam’s Department of Social Work, hospitalization presents an opportunity to monitor and care for old people suffering from, or in danger of, abuse. “The percentage of senior citizens in the population continues to increase,” says Gagin. “When the elderly come to the hospital for treatment they are in a neutral system. The team here has the option of doing broad-based diagnostic testing that covers many aspects of the life of the person involved. We want to be here for those who cannot, or are afraid to speak for themselves. The subject is crucial, since we are the elderly of tomorrow