Advocare went a step further this World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD,15 June) stretching out the day to a week of activities around the state. Our Advocates attended 14 education sessions in the Perth metro area and 15 in the regions ranging from Port Hedland through to Albany to spread awareness of elder abuse and its signs.
In Bunbury, the ‘You Should Ask That’ video project took it to another level with a group of local older Aussies talking Q&A-style to various topics posed by local students, including elder abuse and getting older. We’re sure you’ll agree, the results are riveting!
Our Regional Advocate, Amanda played a pivotal role in bringing all the parties together to film a few weeks out from World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD). The first two videos produced were on the topic of elder abuse awareness to support Advocare’s WEAAD social media campaign, however, they’ll also be used to supplement our education sessions delivered regularly to community groups, service providers staff and other health professionals throughout WA.
For Manea Senior College student, Aimee, the fascinating and insightful answers to the many questions posed to the group of older people will enable her to submit a top-quality submission for her living history project.
Our group of fearless older people who participated in the project said they felt empowered and special to be given an avenue to speak honestly and truthfully. Brought together for the video project by local organisation Milligan, these local people were outstanding, honest and far more entertaining than they gave themselves credit.
Advocate Amanda reflected, “I adored the open honesty of everyone involved. There were times when everyone in the audience laughed, cried and just sat in awe of the incredible interviewees. To hear the stories of our older Australians, told in their words holds such power and honours each person in their own right, and as a collective generation.”
“We had almost a 70-year age gap between the oldest person and the youngest person in the room, and to see the mutual respect and affection between everyone was beyond inspiring. It was an amazing day!”
Advocare sincerely thanks Milligan, Manea Senior College, Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre, Lomax Media, Department of Communities and Council on the Aged for making our ‘You Should Ask That’ project happen.
Catch up on the first two videos in the series on our YouTube channel:
What is elder abuse? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoDMIB30m50
Why do people not talk about elder abuse? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ec4aH6dmIg