The Chair publishes an open-access article on mistreatment during the pandemic in the Journal of Adult Protection (October 2020)
Entitled: COVID-19 and Residential Care Facilities: Issues and Concerns Identified by the International Network Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA), this article focuses on the variability of protective sanitary, political and social measures implemented worldwide, while taking into consideration their direct and indirect implication in the emerging issue of mistreatment and human rights violations of older persons in the COVID-19 context.
Compiling the responses of members of the International Network for the Protection of Elder Abuse (INPEA), representing 16 countries, the Research Chair on Mistreatment of Older Adults identifies three significant issues directly affecting the well-being of the older adult population. They are: prevailing ageism that reduces the quality of healthcare and other services, organisational deficiencies in infection prevention and interventions to contain outbreaks, and the collateral effects of indiscriminate, prophylactic measures on the fundamental rights of older persons living in residential facilities – specifically, the rights to security, freedom and privacy.