Protecting Our Elders: An Interfaith Coalition to Address Elder Abuse

Abstract

With baby boomers coming of age, the increasing life span of elders, and the unstable economic times, several experts have predicted that the incidence of elder abuse will escalate (Bonnie & Wallace, 2002; Podnieks & Wilson, 2005). To address this pressing challenge, innovative solutions—across different sectors—need to be developed. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview and results achieved through a partnership between two public-sector organizations and an interfaith coalition to prevent and report elder abuse. Interestingly, in addition to addressing elder abuse, the lives of the participants were enriched as they established new networks and developed greater respect for other faith traditions.

Keywords:

• Elder abuse prevention
• interfaith coalition
• public and private partnerships

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the staff of the Protecting Our Elders project for their dedication and commitment to preventing elder abuse. Special thanks go to Betty Malks for her support and assistance with this article and to Margriet DeLange and Heidi Cartan for providing data and project outcomes.

Notes

1. For information on the first phase of this project, please refer to the two articles in the reference section with Malks as the lead author (Malks & Cartan, 2010; Malks et al., 2010).