Campaign highlights abuse among vulnerable

SAGE Advocacy has launched a public awareness campaign showing uncomfortable truths of abuse faced by vulnerable adults, to place a spotlight on taboos which must be broken.

The charity believes that unsettling truths about what happens to thousands of people must be aired and responded to, even though some might prefer if they were not.

The drive was launched marking the 10th anniversary of Sage Advocacy and comprises a series of 12 gritty images and messages cataloguing what Sage has witnessed during ten years of working with thousands of people, their families and services.

These stories raise uncomfortable but very real issues:

– Few, if any, want to know about unnecessary and forced use of incontinence wear

– Few, if any want to discuss deprivation of liberty in places of care

– Few, if any, want to talk about adult children using the hospitalisation of a parent to take possession of the parent’s home.

2023 was Sage Advocacy’s busiest year to date during which it supported 7,903 people; taking on 1975 Individual Advocacy cases (an increase of 27% on 2022); and 5,928. Information & Support cases (up 39% on 2022 figures).

Sage is the National Advocacy Service for Older People. It also supports vulnerable adults and healthcare patients in certain situations where no other service is available. It responds according to a person’s needs with Information – Support – Advocacy – Safeguarding and often a combination of all these approaches. It also identifies, analyses and highlights issues which require systems changes through Systemic Advocacy.

The campaign titled Postcards with an Edge will be widely promoted online. The materials are available to view at www.sageadvocacy.ie/supportus/postcards.

Each postcard shows and describes a circumstance – the impact of financial abuse; deprivation of liberty in places of care; families seizing control of a relative’s assets or decisions at a time of ill health, the impact when healthcare providers ignore the voice of the person being treated and the lifelong hardship that results from institutional abuse in early life.

Sage Advocacy recently announced the expansion of its service to provide advocacy supports to survivors of institutional abuse, many of whom experience difficulties in dealing with state institutions and officialdom.

The initiative is designed not just to break down taboos, but also to promote a response from the public and professionals.

If people suspect or know of abuses or vulnerabilities as described on any of the cards, I encourage them to contact Sage’s Information & Support Service on 01 536 7330 or email info@sageadvocacy.ie.

Further information is available at www.sageadvocacy.ie.

Since 2014 Sage Advocacy has supported many thousands of people on complex and challenging issues. However, fresh challenges await. The institutional and culture change required by the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) legislation, the progressing of the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission on Adult Safeguarding and deprivation of liberty in places of care are just some of these.

To set out a flavour of what the postcards involve – one for example – carries an image that looks an older woman directly in the eye and is captioned ‘Not everyone is happy in a nappy’. The messaging on the reverse of the card takes an unflinching approach to discussing human rights violations in the area of continence care and the use of ‘convenience medication’.

It reads: “Some older people and people with disabilities are, on occasion, encouraged to use incontinence wear; even though they are continent.

“Sometimes ‘convenience medication’ is used in the process of encouragement. Inappropriate use of incontinence wear for the convenience of staff, even if they are short-staffed on night duty, is a gross violation of a person’s human rights. It constitutes inhuman and degrading treatment.

“Sage Representatives deal with issues like this every day.”

All of the issues discussed in the postcards are anonymised, but they are very real, and prevalent. They’re the kind of issues that Sage Advocates support people with, all over the country – in their homes, nursing homes, hospitals, or wherever they may find themselves – every day.

Postcards with an Edge can be viewed and are available for purchase at www.sageadvocacy.ie/supportus/postcards

About the author

Vice Admiral Mellett was Ireland’s highest ranking military officer, Government’s principal military adviser and member of the National Security Committee and the EU Military Committee.