Abuse of Older Adults

Abuse of older adults is any action that threatens the health, safety, or well-being of an older person. It is also called senior abuse or elder abuse. Abuse can be acts, words, or neglect.  It may happen once or over a period of time. Sadly, most abuse of older adults comes from a family member, friend, or caregiver.

The most common types of abuse are listed below.

Financial abuse is when someone takes your money or does not let you have your money or misuses your money. They might steal cash, cheques, or savings. They may take your money by using your bank card or demand access to your online bank account. They may threaten or prevent you from having contact with your grandchildren or others you love unless you give them money or gifts. They may demand you sign a debt, lease or loan with them. Or they might demand that you get a loan and that you give them all of the money. They might pretend to be you in order to get your money from your bank account. Or they might misuse your money, property, or authority such as a power of attorney. For more information about financial abuse see the information on Powers of Attorney.

Physical abuse is when someone hurts you by punching, kicking, slapping, shaking, pushing, burning,  throwing objects, scalding you with hot water, or in other ways. It also includes using physical restraints, locking you in a room, or giving you the wrong medication on purpose.

Sexual abuse is any form of sexual activity that is not wanted—it is without your consent. Some examples of sexual abuse are unwanted sexual comments, intercourse, touching or fondling, or kissing.

Emotional, psychological or mental abuse is when someone uses words to hurt you.   This includes when someone:

• calls you names, uses put-downs, threatens, blames, bullies, teases, or humiliates you
• cuts off your contact with friends and family, stops you from having visitors, or threatens to do these things
• makes hurtful or cruel comments
• constantly criticizes, insults or belittles you
• controls or frightens you
• threatens to harm you, or to harm people you care about or your pets
• encourages you to commit suicide
• uses your friends or relationships to harm you. This includes spreading rumours, gossiping, excluding you from a group or making you look foolish or unintelligent
• threatens to put you in an institution.

Neglect is when an abuser does not give you your basic needs, like food, medical care, shelter, general care, or clothing. Sometimes, a family member or caregiver might neglect the person they are caring for. “Self- neglect” is when you cannot or will not care properly for yourself and do not want and refuse to have someone else help you.

Denial of rights is when an abuser keeps you from doing what you have the right to do. They might keep important information from you. They might open your mail without your permission. They may prevent you from going to your faith or cultural events. They might restrain you, which means holding or tying you down. Or they might confine you, which means keep you in a place you do not want to be.

Online abuse is when someone harasses or hurts you online, using email, texting, instant messaging or other technologies. They might share private photos of you without your consent, or they might harass you online or on social media or track your electronic communications.  They might encourage you to commit suicide. Online abuse is sometimes also called cyber-abuse or cyber-bullying.

Harassment, including stalking, is any unwanted physical or verbal behaviour that offends, threatens or humiliates you. It may also include following you and not leaving you alone, repeated unwanted contact or communication with you.

Coercive and controlling abuse is a pattern of behaviour aimed at controlling or dominating another person. There may be physical abuse, together with emotional, psychological, sexual, financial or other forms of abuse.  Coercive and controlling abuse is very dangerous because it is part of an ongoing pattern and tends to be more serious.

The following lists some criminal offences that may apply if an older adult is being abused:

Financial abuse

• Theft, including theft by a person who has power of attorney
• Fraud and fraud with a credit card
• Robbery
• Breaking and entering
• Forgery and using forged documents
• Extortion (using threats or violence to make a person do something)
• Criminal breach of trust
• Stopping mail with intent to rob or search it


Physical Abuse

• Assault (‘common’ assault, assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm, aggravated assault)
• Sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon
• Forcible confinement
• Murder or manslaughter
• Administering a noxious substance
• Counselling suicide

Emotional, psychological or mental abuse

• Threatening to cause death or bodily harm, harm to pets or to property
• Criminal harassment (also called ‘stalking’), including repeated unwanted contact
• Intimidation

Neglect


• Criminal negligence causing bodily harm or death

• Breach of duty to provide necessities of life

Anyone can report abuse of older adults to the police.

The police can investigate the report. This might include getting:

• a statement from the victim
• a statement from the accused
• statements from neighbours, family members, or service providers who might have evidence
• photographs of any injuries
• a medical report
• financial records
• any other evidence that is relevant to the complaint.

The police will investigate and decide whether to lay charges against the person accused of abuse. They will lay charges only if they believe they have enough proof to convict the abuser in court.


Help for victims in a criminal case

Fear is a major reason abuse is not reported. A victim may be worried about reporting abuse or giving evidence in court. Some victims of abuse may not be physically or mentally able to this on their own. The victim may be afraid of the abuser, or the abuser might be someone the victim cares about, including a family member, and the victim may want to maintain family relationships.  The victim may be dependent on the abuser.  



Remember: abuse is never the victim’s fault.  People in healthy relationships are not violent or abusive with each other. No one has the right to be violent or abusive with other people.  It is always best to reach out to someone you trust for help.

Victims of abuse who are asked to testify in court can get help and support from a victim services program. Nova Scotia’s Provincial Victim Services Program offers victims of crime information and support as a case moves through the criminal justice system, and can be reached at 1-888-470-0773 or get information online at https://novascotia.ca/just/victim_services/

Judges can order things to make it easier for vulnerable older adults to testify in court.  These may include:

• allowing a support person to be there while the victim testifies
• allowing the victim to testify remotely or behind a screen
• having a lawyer do the cross-examination when the accused is self-represented, so that the victim is not questioned directly by the accused
• ordering a publication ban so that identifying information is kept private
• ordering that some members of the public not be allowed in the court.

Even if the abuse is not a crime, police or victim services can give information and refer to various community supports for help addressing and stopping the abuse.  Some community supports are listed at the end of this page under "Where can I get more information?".

Financial abuse can happen to anyone. It is the most commonly reported form of abuse of older adults. So remember, you are not alone.

Financial abuse may include the following:

• manipulating or threatening you to get access to your money or property. For example, forcing you to make or change important documents like your will or a power of attorney, or to sign a contract for a loan
• theft, including from joint bank accounts
• forgery - for example, someone signing your name to cash a cheque
• fraud - someone tricking you to get money from you
• abusing your power of attorney.

If you are being financially abused, you may want to:

• contact NS 211 for support and information about community resources that can help
• talk to a lawyer or someone else you trust. Contact a lawyer you know, or get in touch with the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia for legal information or help finding a lawyer
• talk to the police. Financial abuse such as theft, theft by a person who has power of attorney, forgery, and fraud are crimes under the Criminal Code of Canada.

Keep your paperwork and records. You might need records for a police investigation or if you go to court. Records can include emails or text messages, a diary of events, copies of cancelled cheques, and copies of legal documents.

Also see the sections on Scams, Identity Theft and Other Fraud,  and Power of Attorney.

Nova Scotia has four key laws that protect older adults from abuse. They are:

• the Protection for Persons in Care Act
• the Adult Protection Act
• the Domestic Violence Intervention Act
• the Intimate Images and Cyber-protection Act.

The Criminal Code of Canada also protects older adults across the country.

Abuse can happen to patients and residents of provincially regulated facilities, including health care and community homes. Nova Scotia’s Protection for Persons in Care Act helps to protect patients and residents 16 years of age and older from abuse.

 The facilities include:

• hospitals
• residential care facilities
• nursing homes
• homes for the aged or long term care homes
• homes for people with disabilities including small options homes
• group homes
• residential centres.

A service provider who is doing their duties and following recognized standards and practices and their policies and procedures is not abusing their patients or residents.

Facility staff must protect patients and residents from abuse and keep them reasonably safe. If you report abuse to them, or if they suspect or see abuse, they must report it to the Department of Seniors and Long-term Care. Anyone can report abuse by calling toll free at 1-800-225-7225 (NS government, Continuing Care), or the police.

You can go here to learn more about the Protection for Persons in Care Act.

Under the Protection for Persons in Care Act, abuse may be any of the following:

• physical
• sexual
• emotional
• misuse of medication
• neglect
• misuse or theft of money or possessions.

The Act does not protect against all financial abuse. It protects against misuse or theft of money or possessions belonging to a patient or resident in the facility.

If you believe that a senior in care is the victim of financial abuse and cannot look after their affairs, you should talk with them. You might also talk to someone who is close to the senior, like a family member, who may be able to help the senior.

You can also call the police. Some financial abuse, like fraud or theft, is a crime. A senior who is being financially abused should talk to the police and to a lawyer.

If you believe a person in a care facility is being abused, you can report the abuse to the police or to the Department of Seniors and Long-term Care, toll-free at 1-800-225-7225.

The Department will tell the patient or resident that someone has reported abuse and that the Department will investigate the situation. The investigator will write a report. They might make recommendations to protect the patient or resident or to investigate the matter more.

The police will be involved if there is proof that the abuse is a criminal offence. This would happen if the investigator found evidence of a crime like physical assault, sexual assault, theft, or fraud. If a caregiver failed to care for a senior, they could be charged with neglect.

Some adults live in their own homes even though they no longer have the physical or mental ability to care for themselves, or they might live with family members. The Adult Protection Act helps to protect them from physical, sexual, and mental abuse as well as from neglect. It does not protect them from financial abuse.

The Adult Protection Act protects adults who are “in need of protection.” This means a person who is 16 years old or older and who:

• has a physical or mental disability
• is abused or neglected where they live
• cannot protect themselves from the abuse or neglect
• refuses, delays, or cannot provide for their own care.

The Adult Protection Act does not aim to punish abusers but to protect people from harm.

Sometimes a person physically abuses or neglects an older adult to get money or property or for access to their bank account. If someone reports this abuse to Adult Protection Services, they will investigate. The investigation and steps taken by Adult Protection Services to protect an older adult from the physical abuse or neglect may stop the financial abuse.

If you believe an older adult is being financially abused and is unable to look after their affairs, you should talk with them, even if there is no physical abuse or neglect. You might also talk to a trusted person who is close to the senior (such as a family member) who may be able to help.

You can also contact the Public Trustee or the police. The Nova Scotia Public Trustee's Office has the right to act for certain people who cannot take care of their own affairs. The Public Trustee will look into your complaint and may talk with the police or the Department of Seniors and Long-term Care. You can get more information on the Public Trustee’s website at novascotia.ca/just/pto/ or call the Nova Scotia Public Trustee at 902-424-7760.

Some financial abuse is a crime, for example, stealing, forging a signature, or misusing a power of attorney. A senior who is being financially abused should talk to the police and to a lawyer.

For more information, see the sections on the Public Trustee, Adult Capacity and Decision-making, and Power of Attorney (under “What can I do if my attorney misuses the power of attorney?”).

Anyone can report abuse or neglect to the Adult Protection Services, or you can report it to local police. You can call Adult Protection Services toll-free at 1-800-225-7225.

Often community agencies that have contact with a senior may report abuse or neglect. Sometimes the police or health care professionals do. It does not matter if the information is confidential—if they know it, they must report it. Relatives, neighbours, friends and even strangers also report abuse or neglect.

You do not have to be sure that abuse or neglect is taking place if you want to make a report, but you must have good reason to believe that the senior needs some protection.

If you are wrong about the abuse or neglect, you are protected from being sued if you had good reason to make the report. Someone can sue you only if you made your report without good reason.

If you report abuse or neglect, your identity is confidential. However, if the case goes to court, you may have to give evidence. Then your identity would become known.

It is an offence not to report abuse or neglect of an adult who needs protection. Anyone who fails to report could be charged. If convicted, the maximum penalty is a fine of up to $1,000 or prison for up to one year, or both.

If you report abuse or neglect of a senior in their home or community, Adult Protection Services must find out if there is reason to believe that the senior is in need of protection. It may investigate in one of the following ways:

• visiting the adult’s home
• talking with the adult
• meeting with the person accused of the abuse
• meeting with you, as the person who reported the abuse
• asking a doctor to assess the adult’s level of capacity, their need for care and attention, and whether they have been abused
• talking with the adult’s family, doctor, caregivers, and neighbours.

If the investigation shows that the senior can make competent decisions and that they are not refusing help because of threats or coercion, then Adult Protection Service will end its investigation. It may suggest services that the senior can use, but it cannot force the senior to use these services.

If adult protection workers find proof that a senior needs protection, they must help them get services to make things better.

If there has been a criminal offence, the Adult Protection Service must report it to the police.

Adult Protection does not provide services itself. Adult Protection workers help the adult or the adult’s family find the services they need and can get in the community. Services can include help in their own home or meals on wheels. They may talk with the senior about living somewhere else, such as shared housing, seniors’ apartments, and homes for special care. They can give them priority on waitlists for government services like nursing homes.

The adult is expected to pay for these services if they can afford to. Some privately run services charge fees based on what users can afford to pay. Some services are run by volunteers. If the adult cannot afford to pay, the province will.

If Adult Protection Services is concerned a senior is unable to look after their own needs and is at risk of abuse or neglect, they may ask the senior to have an assessment. If the senior refuses the assessment, or if their caregiver refuses, Adult Protection Services may ask for a court order authorizing entry into the senior’s home. If the judge orders an assessment, Adult Protection Services will be able to go into the place where the senior lives so that it can do the assessment. The Adult Protection worker may ask a doctor to assess the senior’s level of capacity to make decisions.

Usually, the senior will get at least four days’ notice before entry is ordered. In an emergency, a judge can allow entry without notice.

If Adult Protection Services believes that a senior needs protection but is refusing help, they can ask the court for an order that says that the senior needs protection. A judge then holds a court hearing to decide the matter.

If the adult protection worker believes that a senior is in immediate danger, they can take the senior into care until a hearing can take place.

Before making an order that an adult needs protection, a judge must be satisfied that:

• the senior is a victim of abuse or neglect in the place where they live
• the senior is refusing services from Adult Protection Services either because they do not have the mental capacity to decide or because they are afraid of harm from the abuser if they accept the services.

After hearing the evidence, if a judge finds that the senior needs protection, they will make a protective intervention order. The judge must be satisfied that someone is a threat to the senior in need of protection and that something more is needed to keep the senior safe from an abuser.

A protective intervention order can order someone who may be a threat to a senior to:

• leave the place where the senior lives (unless that person owns or rents the place)
• have no contact or only some contact with the senior
• pay money to help support the senior.

Protective intervention orders may not be changed until at least three months have passed.

If a senior who needs protection does not have a representative decision-maker or if the representative is not protecting the senior’s well-being and financial interests in decisions they make on the adult’s behalf, the judge may notify the Public Trustee. The person we now call a representative used to be called a guardian in Nova Scotia.

Yes. Adult Protection Services may remove a senior from their home right away if they believe that:

• the senior’s life is in danger
• the senior needs protection
• the senior cannot decide whether to accept services
• the senior is being pressured not to accept services

Within five days of removing a senior from their home, the Minister of Seniors and Long-term Care must either return the senior to their home or apply to the court for an order saying that the senior needs protection.

If a judge finds that the senior needs protection, the Department of Seniors and Long-term Care can place the senior in a home for special care, to make sure the senior is safe from abuse and is not being neglected. The Public Trustee may be asked to manage the senior’s property if there is a danger that the property will be lost, wasted, or damaged while the senior is in care. (For more information, see the section on the Public Trustee.)

An order saying that an adult needs protection or a protective intervention order lasts for six months. The order will end at that time unless a further application is heard by the court.

An application can be made to the court to renew, change, or end the order before the six months are up. Those who may apply are the Minister of Seniors and Long-term Care, the senior, someone acting on the senior’s behalf, or the person against whom an order is made. Any renewal of the order will end after six months, unless it is renewed again.

No. A person could appeal the judge’s decision to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court or to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. If you are thinking about appealing, you should talk with a lawyer before deciding what to do.

The main purpose of the Adult Protection Act is to protect adults who need protection from abuse or neglect, not to punish people who abuse them. Investigation by Adult Protection Services may be enough to stop any more abuse.

People in abusive situations may be able to get counselling either as a victim or an abuser. A victim and an abuser would not usually get counselling together.

A protective intervention order can take an abuser out of the senior’s home. A person who breaks a protective intervention order can be fined up to $1,000 or sent to jail for up to one year or both. The senior may also be able to get a peace bond ('no-contact' court order) to stop an abuser from contacting them. The senior can call the police if an abuser breaks the peace bond.

The police might charge the abuser with a crime, as some types of abuse are a crime.

No. Adult Protection Services keeps files on reports of abuse in private homes and facilities. The files are not generally available to the public. Family members can apply for information in these files under Nova Scotia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. You can get more information at the Nova Scotia government website by searching for ‘access to information’. The website is at novascotia.ca.

Criminal charges may be laid against the abuser in some situations. Abusers who are convicted of a criminal offence, such as assault, will have a criminal record.

The Nova Scotia Public Trustee’s Office looks into reports of abuse of older adults by their representatives. A representative is someone with legal authority, by court order, to act for an adult who cannot make their own decisions. This authority comes from the Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act.

A representative must protect the adult’s well-being and financial interests in any decision they make on the adult’s behalf. The representative is permitted to do only the things listed in the representation order made by the court.

The Domestic Violence Intervention Act is a Nova Scotia law that protects people from violence by a partner or spouse. It does not protect against financial abuse. The law says that a victim can be a person 16 years old or older who has been abused in certain situations. The first is by a partner, if the couple is living together or has lived together. Another is by the other parent of one of the victim’s children, even if the parents never lived together. The act does not protect people from abuse by a child or parent.

The act allows a court to make an emergency protection order. The order can last up to 30 days and can say the following:

• the victim has care ('custody') of a child
• the victim can stay in, or return to, the home and the other partner is not allowed on the property for a period of time
• the victim has possession of property (such as a car, bank card, identification documents, health cards, and personal effects)
• the police can take the abuser’s weapons
• the abuser cannot contact the victim.

An emergency protection order is only for situations that are serious and urgent. It is not meant to replace criminal law or family law options.

You can apply for an emergency protection order by calling 1-866-816-6555 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Police officers can apply before or after those hours.

The Domestic Violence Intervention Act provides a quick process of review, notice, and hearing before a judge. For more information and resources, go to www.legalinfo.org/family-law/family-violence or www.nsfamilylaw.ca/family-violence, or talk to a lawyer.

Examples of cyberbullying include when someone:

• creates a website, blog, or profile to make others believe it is you
• shares your sensitive personal information online or breaks your confidence
• threatens, intimidates, harasses, or scares you online
• makes false statements about you
• engages in communications that are grossly offensive, indecent, or obscene
• encourages you to commit suicide.

Cyberbullying can also include encouraging or forcing someone else to do these things.

The law also protects you if someone shares a private intimate image of you, such as a photograph, film, or video, without your consent. An intimate image is one that is private, shows sexual activity or nudity or partial nudity. It is an image you have good reason to think will stay private.

Under Nova Scotia law, “distributed without your consent” means publishing, posting or sharing the image with others, without your permission. It could also mean that the person who shared them did not think about or care whether you would have agreed to share the images with others, and did not ask you.

For example, without asking you and to try to hurt you, a former partner posts a private, sexually explicit, intimate picture of you on Facebook that you had good reason to think was going to stay private.