‘Up to 10% of older Irish people are victims of financial abuse’ October 20, 2017

Eileen O’Callaghan Safeguarding Designated Officer here with Sage wrote a piece in the journal.ie about financial abuse and her role with Sage

IN MY WORK as Safeguarding Designated Officer, I see two types of financial abuse: cases when it is callous and ruthless – and cases when family members or friends may be committing abuse that is more subtle, or even unintended. A typical case we see is where we are contacted by a nursing home provider. A vulnerable resident, with limited capacity to manage their finances, has an unpaid nursing home bill of €30,000 plus and are often not informed of this. A family member is the appointed agent and has not been using the person’s own money to pay for their care. Often this is a disability allowance payment which was seen by the family as “family income” rather than the person’s own money to use how and when they wish. Nursing home providers are often hesitant to get involved and so the person is made even more vulnerable.

Please click here to view the rest of the article featured today in thejournal.ie 
Eileen O’Callaghan is Safeguarding Designated Officer at Sage – Support and Advocacy Service. Sage promotes and supports the rights of vulnerable adults and older people. For information, or guidance on reporting suspected cases of Financial Abuse, contact the HSE National Safeguarding Office at (061) 461 358. See safeguardingcommittee.ie or sageadvocacy.ie.