Elder Abuse Prevention Fund
The Elder Abuse Prevention Fund provides funding to projects that focus on preventing the abuse of older people in New Zealand. The fund is administered by the Office for Seniors, with funding provided by the Ministry of Social Development and Te Puna Aonui.
In 2022, 11 organisations shared $250,000 for elder abuse prevention initiatives. The Ministry of Social Development funded a learning and insights review of the initiatives supported by the 2022 round of funding. The review was led by Dovetail Consulting Ltd.
The review found that organisations delivered high quality programmes by building trusting relationships, thoughtfully designing services and using collaborative and whānau-centred approaches. It also identified challenges, including meeting the need in communities, particularly as the work is complex and requires specialist skills. The review improves our understanding of community-led responses to preventing abuse and demonstrates the value of these initiatives.
Download Gathering insights from the Elder Abuse Prevention Fund report.
You can read more about the work that the Ministry of Social Development is doing to prevent elder abuse here Prevention of abuse of older people - Ministry of Social Development (msd.govt.nz).
In 2023, seven organisations received a funding extension, sharing an additional $155,000. The successful projects needed to show the impact they achieved in the initial funding period and describe what further outcomes they would work towards.
Elder Abuse Prevention Fund 2023
|
Family Focus |
Establishing a regional elder abuse network in the Bay of Plenty, to identify professional development opportunities, collaborate, share learning and provide feedback to government. |
|
Hohou te Rongo Kahukura |
Work with Age Concern Auckland to ensure its services are takatāpui and rainbow safe, by reviewing policies and practices and providing training and mentoring. |
|
Manchester House |
Providing support and navigation for older people and their families in Fielding through a Senior Care Advocate. |
|
Porirua Kāpiti Community Law |
Providing free enduring powers of attorney for Pacific communities in Porirua. |
|
Te Ahi Kaa |
Providing kaumātua peer support for those experiencing elder abuse. The peer support group is supported by a registered social worker and will receive training and supervision. |
|
Wesley Community Action |
Providing a community advocate for older people living in vulnerable situations. The community advocate does home visits, organises shopping and online payments and provides additional support that meets the individual’s needs. |
|
University of Otago |
Research into the physical and psychosocial triggers for elder abuse in the interRAI Home Care Assessment, to understand whether there are indicators of elder abuse that are more difficult to detect. |
Elder Abuse Prevention Fund 2022
|
Age Concern Waikato |
Creating awareness of safe aging in place and preventing elder abuse towards older migrant and refugee communities. |
| Family Focus |
An abuse awareness and prevention programme for older people and their carers. |
| Grey Power Rotorua | To generate greater professional unity by developing professional networks and a professional development programme, with and for providers and their supervisors. |
| Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura - Outing Violence | This project aims to understand how elder abuse, neglect and exploitation are experienced by Takatāpui and Rainbow Elders in Aotearoa New Zealand. |
| Kilbirnie/Lyall Bay Community Centre | To develop a dedicated Connection Office space where older people can connect, seek advice and share. |
|
Manchester House |
Piloting a dedicated Senior Care Advocate role that would enhance existing Senior Hub services by offering a one-on-one rather than group focus. |
|
Ngai Tai Iwi Authority |
Assisting whānau and the wider community to recognise elder abuse and respond effectively to protect pakeke and keep them safe. |
| Porirua Kapiti Community Law Centre | Providing free enduring powers of attorney to low-income communities in Porirua. Includes workshops and information provision. |
|
Te Ahi Kaa |
Providing safe conversations with kaumātua and their whānau about preventing elder financial abuse, including one-on-one support, public awareness and education on keeping safe. |
|
University of Otago |
To improve detection of older adult abuse that is largely unidentified and under-reported, by altering the International Resident Assessment Instrument (interRAI) criteria for suspicion of older adult abuse in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to validate the modification using the national dataset of 572,000 assessments. |
| Wesley Community Action | To pilot a Senior Advocate role, focused on information provision, raising awareness and providing intensive one-on-one support to older people. |