We must be alert to warning signs as we tackle shocking financial abuse of elderly

OLDER people are vulnerable to family and friends who exploit their good natures. And that is something they — and those who care for them — need to become far more aware of if the problem is to be tackled.

A recent survey commissioned by what is called the National Safeguarding Committee found that half of the State’s vulnerable adults have been abused or seen somebody close to them abused. That finding is shocking.

The National Safeguarding Committee was set up by the HSE in 2014 to promote the rights of adults.

It received 7,500 reports of abuse last year, an increase of 60pc on 2015. Some 40pc of reports related to people over 65, for whom financial abuse and psychological abuse are the most common.

Elder financial abuse has long been a problem, but it is secret as well as insidious, and may well be getting worse.

This is where older people have their savings taken, or are pressurised for money.

An adult child or other relation wearing down a parent to extract money or valuables from them can be very hard for others to detect, and it can be hard for older people themselves to realise what exactly is at play.

This is particularly important, as academic studies have found that older people have been proportionately less impacted by the tough measures introduced in the austerity budgets between 2008 and 2014. Pension payments were protected, while some lucky older people have the last of the increasingly unaffordable defined benefit pensions.

Struggling offspring often look on at the financial situation of their parents with envy.

This has come into sharp focus due to the updated Census 2016 figures showing a quarter of married couples now have adult children living with them. Census 2016 also showed a rapid rise in the number of people aged over 65. The number of people aged over 65 has increased since 2011 by 19pc to 637,567.

Older people are also vulnerable to attempts to get them to alter their wills. It is thought that hundreds of older people face demands for money every year. But recent Age Action research found half of elderly people were unaware of the concept of elder financial abuse.

There have been calls for a strengthening of the legislative framework to deal with abuse of vulnerable adults. That is all very well, but sneaky and underhand elder financial abuse is very difficult to police.

Raising awareness of elder financial abuse among older people has got to be the first measure. That is because the best way for older people to protect themselves is to be informed, to ensure their friends and family know what warnings signs to watch out for, and to act when they suspect elder abuse.