Each year, one in six people aged 60 and over experience some form of abuse—physical, psychological, sexual, financial, or neglect. Yet this widespread issue remains one of the least recognized human rights violations globally.

To address this urgent problem, especially in low- and middle-income countries, the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030) Secretariat based at the World Health Organization launched the intervention accelerator to prevent abuse of older people (AOP-IA). This global initiative aims to develop, test, and scale up effective, evidence-based, and affordable interventions to prevent and respond to abuse of older people.

The AOP-IA follows a four-phase process:
 

1. Global Scan – Identifying promising interventions and compiling them into a public database.
2. Global Network Building – Connecting intervention developers, implementers, and researchers worldwide.
3. Testing and Scaling – Adapting, testing, and scaling up the most promising interventions.
4. Living Portfolio – Creating and regularly updating a resource of effective interventions with multilingual guidance for adaptation, implementation, and evaluation.

In the first two phases, 89 promising interventions were identified (see: UN Decade of Healthy Ageing's database of promising interventions to prevent and respond to abuse of older people). From these, seven interventions with the greatest potential were selected for further testing. These interventions span different countries and approaches:
 

1. RISE (Canada and USA): A community-based intervention that uses restorative practices and motivational interviewing to support older adults at risk of or experiencing abuse.
2. PEOPLE (Iran): A group-based program that empowers older adults to prevent abuse through peer support and health-promoting behaviors.
3. SAFE (USA): An intervention targeting financial abuse through community education, recovery assistance, and personalized financial coaching.
4. PROTECT (USA): A therapeutic intervention that combines problem-solving and anxiety management techniques to reduce depression among older adults who have experienced abuse.
5. PEC-Sakoula (Burkina Faso): A community initiative supporting older individuals accused of witchcraft through basic care, literacy training, and income-generating activities.
6. SEARCH (USA): A training intervention for nursing home staff aimed at preventing and responding to resident-to-resident aggression in long-term care facilities.
7. I-NEED (Malaysia): A digital training program designed to equip primary care nurses in institutional settings to identify and respond effectively to abuse of older people.

The AOP-IA is now entering Phase 3, which will begin with the cultural adaptation and pilot testing of two of the seven selected candidate interventions, with plans to expand to the remaining five as funding becomes available. The two interventions selected for testing are:
 

• PEOPLE will be adapted and tested in Malaysia.
  
• I-NEED will be adapted and tested in Iran.

The AOP-IA demonstrates that promising solutions to prevent abuse of older people already exist in diverse settings. With proper evaluation and support, these interventions can be scaled up globally, helping to protect older adults and uphold their rights and dignity.

Source: Campo-Tena, L., Herbst, J. H., Choo, W. Y., Burnes, Couture, M., Estebsari, F., Kafando, C. S. L., Rouamba, G., Simbreni, M.-M., Yan, E., Yon, Y., & Mikton, C. (in press). Seven Candidate Interventions to Address Abuse of Older People. Age & Ageing.

This study was funded by Employment and Social Development Canada.