Steering Group

Project coordinator: ANBO, The Netherlands

The lead applicant ANBO is a partner in the current EUSTaCEA project, funded by the European Commission’s Daphne III program. The aim of this project is to develop a Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for the elderly and a toolkit to implement these rights to protect the elderly against abuse. This project has enabled ANBO to broaden its knowledge on the subject of elder abuse in both the Netherlands and Europe. The organization plays an advocacy role for seniors in the Netherlands and is a member of AGE and the AARP Global Network. ANBO has contacts with many national and international experts on the subject of elder abuse and can draw on experiences from the field. The organization is consulted regularly by the Dutch parliament and asked to advise on policy decisions that concern seniors. As elder abuse is a growing area of concern for the Dutch parliament, ANBO is determined to advocate the rights of seniors in this field as well.

Project partners:

Movisie will be the partner organization from the Netherlands to the project. Movisie is a part of the former research institute NIZW, which has contributed an impressive body of research to the field of elder abuse. The research that was done by NIZW in The Netherlands has helped to create a basis for the Daphne III project EUSTaCEA. Furthermore, Movisie was been invited by the European Commission to present the Dutch Model as a good practice in preventing elder abuse at the Conference on ‘Protecting the dignity of older persons – The prevention of elder abuse and neglect’ in Brussels on 17 March 2008. Movisie’s National Ambassador STOP Elder Abuse, who is also a member of INPEA, presented the Dutch campaign STOP Elder Abuse. Movisie has a website with relevant information for professionals and students (www.movisie.nl/ouderenmishandeling) and supports the National Platform to Combat Elder Abuse.

 

Zivot90 is the Czech project partner. The organization is a partner in the current EUSTaCEA project on elder abuse. The organization also helped to organize the 2009 Czech Presidency Conference on ‘The Care and Protection of Senior Citizens’, in which elder abuse was an important topic of interest. Zivot 90 is a member AGE.

 

 

 

The Irish partner organization AgeAction organized a national one-day conference in June 2009 entitled ‘Protecting older adults; interweaving responses to elder abuse’. This conference was held in conjunction with the Social Policy and Ageing Research Centre (SPARC) from theTrinity College Dublin. The prevention of elder abuse is one of the key objectives of AgeAction for the coming years.

 

The Greek partner organization KMOP advocates for the rights of vulnerable people, and especially the elderly in Greece through the implementation of projects, and by influencing decision-making processes on national and local policy. They have a broad experience in European projects and have currently applied for European funding within the Daphne program for a project that addresses the issue of elder abuse.

 

The Italian partner Anziani E non Solo has extensive experience in the field of elder abuse, both as an advocate of the rights of older people and through projects. Anziani E non Solo currently coordinates a research project funded by the Italian Ministry of Equal Opportunities on the risk of violence and abuse within care relationships between the elderly and their (in)formal caregivers. The organization is also a member of relevant organizations, such as INPEA and EUROCARERS.

EURAG Austria, the local platform of the umbrella organization EURAG Europe, has extensive experience in European projects that aim to combat age discrimination and promote the (physical and mental) health of the older population to ensure quality of life in old age. EURAG Austria has advisory status in the NGO Committee on Ageing of the United Nations and collaborates closely with universities and care institutions, federal and local governments and the media. Through the Academic Advisory Board EURAG Austria has access to research and the development of new strategies.  

The Polish partner organization, Fundacja na Rzecz kobiet JA KOBIETA, will be responsible for the partner budget and coordination of the action within their country. They have chosen to be represented by Forum 50+, an organization that they are a part of. Through Forum 50+, Fundacja na Rzecz kobiet JA KOBIETA will give input to the project’s products and Steering Group meetings. The Polish partner organization, Forum 50+, is composed of 25 different local senior organizations from all over Poland. The organization closely collaborates with the National Public Health Institute,  Polish Gerontology Association, Polish Geriatic Association, Health Ministry, the Warsaw University and the Cracow University, and the Polish Blue Line. Furthermore, Forum 50+ developed and conducted the first survey on age discrimination in Poland, in which the subject of elder abuse was addressed as well. The organization has an in depth understanding of elder abuse and a broad network of experts, stakeholders and interest groups.

The Slovakian partner Fórum pre pomoc starším – národná siet (Fórum) cooperates with state, self-government and representative bodies, institutions (Slovak National Centre for Human Rights, Institute for public affairs, Ombudsman) and is a member of AGE and Help Age International. The organization has represented Slovakia in many international events and conferences on social inclusion, poverty, discrimination and the protection of the elderly. Fórum has also set up a national telephone line to help elderly in crisis situations, which has given the organization a good understanding of elder abuse within their country. Fórum pre pomoc starším cooperates with 240 organizations of older people and social service providers from Slovakia. Fórum has created expert groups and teams to process important issues on discrimination, health, abuse and harassment.                                            

Zveza društev upokojencev Slovenije, ZDUS is a leading national expert in the field of elder abuse. In 2005 the organization collected stories of elder abuse in the informal care setting that were published in 2006 in the book ‘Older People and Elder Abuse in the Slovene Family’. A second book was published in 2007 together with the Slovene Senate on violence against older people in Slovene care institutions. ZDUS organizes a yearly round table with the Slovene Senate on the topic of elder abuse on the 15th of June. They have been doing so since 2004. The organization has also participated in the development of the first Slovene law against violence within the family and is currently organizing interdisciplinary teams on the local community level to search for solutions to address this type of violence. Since 2004, the organization has been organising a project in which their members, who are pensioners, visit their older neighbors to detect cases of violence and to see if these older people are in need of any help from society.