There are a number of types of elder abuse including physical abuse, financial or material abuse, psychological abuse, neglect and acts of omission, sexual abuse and discriminatory abuse. Of particular relevance to this project, undertaken by Age Action and Ulster Bank in 2015, is financial or material abuse, which the HSE (Health Service Executive in Ireland) states includes the following: “theft, fraud or exploitation; pressure in connection with wills, power of attorney, property, inheritance or financial transactions; or the misuse or misappropriate of property, possessions or benefits”. This presentation was given by Naomi Feely, Senior Policy Officer of Age Action, at a stakeholder forum in June 2015.

1. Preliminary Results from Research
- Survey of older people and customer
facing bank staff
Naomi Feely
Senior Policy Officer

2. Presentation Overview
• Context
• Outline of project activities
• Preliminary Survey results
– Older People
– Customer Facing Bank Staff
• Next Steps

3. Context
• A commitment in Age Action’s Strategic Plan
to ‘raise awareness about the implications of
an ageing society’…. ‘legislation and policies to
safeguard the status of older people’.
• A central feature of this work involves
addressing the issue of elder abuse
• Ulster Bank’s Community Impact Fund

4. Outline of Project Activities
• Conduct a survey of older people and bank
officials to determine the level of awareness of
financial abuse.
• Identify ways of raising awareness amongst older
people and frontline bank staff. May include
delivery of pilot workshops on potential training
exercises.
• Development of final report on the issue of
financial abuse and the key findings from the
project.

5. Survey Results – Older People
Age Profile
• 466* responses to the
survey. Majority fall
between the age categories
65 to 74 years and 75 to 84
years (both 35%).
Key Characteristics
• 70% live in an urban centre
(city or large town)
• Almost equal proportions
live alone (46%) or with a
spouse or partner (45%)
small minority live in other
household compositions
(9%).
• 42% have a third level
qualification.
22%
35%
35%
8%
Under 65 years
65 to 74 years
75 to 84 years
85 years or older

6. Survey Results – Older People
‘Know about’ financial abuse
• 42% of all respondents know about financial
abuse
– Higher amongst younger old – 52% amongst those
under 65 years versus 33% amongst over 85 years.
– Higher among those living with a spouse (46%) versus
those living alone (41%).
– Higher amongst those with third level education (49%)
versus those with leaving cert (43%) and lower.
• 95% of respondents stated financial abuse is
something all older people need to know about.

7. Survey Results – Older People
Levels of Awareness about Financial Abuse
scenarios
• High levels of awareness regarding 4/6
scenarios (between 83 to 98%)
• Low level regarding online example (44%).
• 42% identified that third party account was
not an elder abuse issue.
• Implications for awareness raising activities

8. Survey Results – Older People
Be aware,
some people
cannot read,
write.
A list of Phone
No's could be
made available
that would be of
easy access to us
like the HSE below,
now I have that no
gone into my
mobile.
Elderly people who
have recently learned
to do banking on their
computer, should be
warned of the use of
passwords and the
scans that are been
used.

9. Survey Results – Bank Officials
Age Profile of respondents
• There were 493
respondents. The majority
fall between the age groups
26 to 35 years (36%) and 36
to 44 years (27%)
Key Characteristics
• Vast majority working in the
bank over ten years (59%).
• One-fifth (18%) were
working in the bank for 6
years or less.
• Predominantly working in
provincial town (58%) or
major city (31%).
• 6% working in customer
contact centre.
8%
36%
27%
19%
10%
18- 25 years
26-35 years
36-44 years
45-54 years
55 years and over

10. Survey Results – Bank Officials
‘Know about’ financial abuse
• 68% of all respondents know about financial
abuse
– Higher awareness amongst those with more
experience – 75% amongst those working 10 years
of more versus 36% of those 12 months or less.
– Lower level of awareness amongst staff in contact
centre (53%) versus provincial towns (66%) and
city (74%) branches.

11. Survey Results – Bank Officials
Experience of dealing with suspected financial
abuse
• 45% of all respondents
– Less likely amongst those with less experience
– Those working in customer contact centres had lower
level of experience of this (28%) – similar proportions
in provincial (46%) and city branches (48%)
• 43% had dealt with between 1 and 5 suspected
financial abuse cases in previous 12 months.

12. Survey Results – Bank Officials
Raising Awareness amongst Staff (very useful)
• Resources with tips and the signs to look out
for 74%
• Workshops / information sessions 71%
• Dedicated champions 49%

13. Next Steps
• In-depth analysis of survey findings
• Consideration of ways to raise awareness
• Piloting and development of awareness raising
activities
• Identify ways of targeting hard to reach
groups