Interview on the financial mistreatment of older adults given by Marie Beaulieu to ‘Par ici l’info Estrie.’ (February 2019)

On February 7, 2020, Marie Beaulieu and Lucie Caroline Bergeron, psychosocial intervenor with DIRA-Estrie, are guests on Radio-Canada’s legal affairs program hosted by Marie-France Martel. They address the parameters to take into account during an intervention intended to put a stop to a situation of financial or material mistreatment.

They underline, most importantly, that friends and family, intervenors or professionals must show themselves to be available to an older adult in a situation of mistreatment, despite his or her reticence or refusal to lodge a complaint to the police for fear of alienating the person who is committing the mistreatment.

Marie Beaulieu states that demonstrating availability, in the eventuality that the mistreated senior changes his or her mind, is crucial because ‘the loss of financial resources may result in older persons depriving themselves of food or medications. (Moreover), on a psychological level, financial mistreatment may result in anxiety, sleep deprivation, and premature death.’

The audio recording and transcript are available for all by clicking on the Media Library section of the Research Chair’s website.