5,318 senior citizens were treated by the welfare and social services ministry in 2014 for abuse and neglect, says the ministry in preparation for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, marked annually on June 15.
Of those treated, 1,829 were treated for emotional abuse, 1,589 were treated for neglect, 1,015 for physical abuse, 326 for deprivation of rights, 924 for financial exploitation, and 42 for sexual assault. 18.4% of all senior citizens in Israel were found to be exposed to more than one type of injury (from among physical, sexual, emotional, financial, and deprivation of rights, according to a study done by the University of Haifa.
In 2014, 166 injunctions were issued under the protection of dependents law, to take senior citizens out of their homes to be placed in the care of hospitals for medical treatment or in the care of an institution for long-term care.
The welfare and social services ministry, in partnership with the health ministry and Eshel, will host a conference to mark a decade for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on Monday in the Diamond Theater Auditorium in Ramat Gan.
Welfare and Social Services Minister Haim Katz said on Sunday that the ministry is working on locating all those senior citizens at risk who are not currently reaching out to the welfare services for a variety of reasons.
Katz gave special thanks to the social workers working with senior citizens and added: "As I promised upon entering my position [as minister], I will reiterate and say that I will act and I will help to improve the quality of life for senior citizens in particular and for the weaker populations in Israel, in general." Zionist Union MK Hilik Bar proposed a law on the 1 June to allow guardians of dependents to video or secretly voice-record the caregivers when they are alone with dependents.
The proposal, which was initially submitted in July of 2014 but was not voted upon due to the dispersion of the Knesset, is meant to allow for greater protection of dependents, such as infants in childcare and elderly citizens who are no longer able to care for themselves.
To maintain a balance of protection of dependents and privacy rights, the proposed law states that caregivers must be given advance warning of video surveillance and are to be given full termination rights if they do not agree to the conditions and choose to leave their place of employ.
The original proposed law was drafted after parents turned to Bar's office following their discovery that their six month old daughter's caregiver had been verbally abusing and neglecting her. The parents asked Bar to legislate a rule that would legalize third-party surveillance in cases of dependents.
The current law only allows voice recordings if at least one party to the conversation has given consent. In the case of a dependent and a caregiver, the current law does not legally recognize the guardian's right to record the sessions between the dependent and the caregiver.
"The possibility for families and those responsible for helpless people, whether it is young children, elderly, or people with disabilities, to legally record or video the caregivers is important, necessary, and may create deterrence and even expose cases of physical or verbal abuse," explained Bar.
"Unfortunately, we have seen quite a few cases where this tool was used to expose crimes of serious abuse and was only means available to the families to protect the helpless dependent. This is a law that seeks to balance and resolve the tension between the caregiver's right to privacy and the security and well-being of the helpless dependent and it is undoubtedly essential both for the helpless dependent and their families and for the caregivers," he concluded.
The proposed law was initiated by Bar, who was joined by Kulanu MKs Merav Ben-Ari, and Tali Ploskov, and Zionist Union MKs Yoel Hasson, Eitan Cabel, Dani Atar, Itzik Shmuli, Ksenia Svetlova, and Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin.
Of those treated, 1,829 were treated for emotional abuse, 1,589 were treated for neglect, 1,015 for physical abuse, 326 for deprivation of rights, 924 for financial exploitation, and 42 for sexual assault. 18.4% of all senior citizens in Israel were found to be exposed to more than one type of injury (from among physical, sexual, emotional, financial, and deprivation of rights, according to a study done by the University of Haifa.
In 2014, 166 injunctions were issued under the protection of dependents law, to take senior citizens out of their homes to be placed in the care of hospitals for medical treatment or in the care of an institution for long-term care.
The welfare and social services ministry, in partnership with the health ministry and Eshel, will host a conference to mark a decade for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on Monday in the Diamond Theater Auditorium in Ramat Gan.
Welfare and Social Services Minister Haim Katz said on Sunday that the ministry is working on locating all those senior citizens at risk who are not currently reaching out to the welfare services for a variety of reasons.
Katz gave special thanks to the social workers working with senior citizens and added: "As I promised upon entering my position [as minister], I will reiterate and say that I will act and I will help to improve the quality of life for senior citizens in particular and for the weaker populations in Israel, in general." Zionist Union MK Hilik Bar proposed a law on the 1 June to allow guardians of dependents to video or secretly voice-record the caregivers when they are alone with dependents.
The proposal, which was initially submitted in July of 2014 but was not voted upon due to the dispersion of the Knesset, is meant to allow for greater protection of dependents, such as infants in childcare and elderly citizens who are no longer able to care for themselves.
To maintain a balance of protection of dependents and privacy rights, the proposed law states that caregivers must be given advance warning of video surveillance and are to be given full termination rights if they do not agree to the conditions and choose to leave their place of employ.
The original proposed law was drafted after parents turned to Bar's office following their discovery that their six month old daughter's caregiver had been verbally abusing and neglecting her. The parents asked Bar to legislate a rule that would legalize third-party surveillance in cases of dependents.
The current law only allows voice recordings if at least one party to the conversation has given consent. In the case of a dependent and a caregiver, the current law does not legally recognize the guardian's right to record the sessions between the dependent and the caregiver.
"The possibility for families and those responsible for helpless people, whether it is young children, elderly, or people with disabilities, to legally record or video the caregivers is important, necessary, and may create deterrence and even expose cases of physical or verbal abuse," explained Bar.
"Unfortunately, we have seen quite a few cases where this tool was used to expose crimes of serious abuse and was only means available to the families to protect the helpless dependent. This is a law that seeks to balance and resolve the tension between the caregiver's right to privacy and the security and well-being of the helpless dependent and it is undoubtedly essential both for the helpless dependent and their families and for the caregivers," he concluded.
The proposed law was initiated by Bar, who was joined by Kulanu MKs Merav Ben-Ari, and Tali Ploskov, and Zionist Union MKs Yoel Hasson, Eitan Cabel, Dani Atar, Itzik Shmuli, Ksenia Svetlova, and Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin.
via Smart Health Shop Forum http://ift.tt/1GmG3ID
No comments:
Post a Comment