European Parliament member Eleonora Meleti from New Democracy is sounding the alarm about cases of elder abuse and neglect across Europe through a parliamentary question to the European Commission. She is requesting specific measures from the European Commission to protect elderly citizens. At the same time, she calls on the EU to collect data on elder abuse cases within the framework of the European Care Strategy.
Read more: Strong message from Eleonora Meleti at the European Parliament: “Silence is not consent” (Video)
Eleonora Meleti’s parliamentary question
The full text of the question follows: «In recent years, various member states have witnessed an increase in cases of elder abuse through either physical, psychological or verbal violence, or neglect by individuals who have undertaken their care. This represents a serious social problem in the European Union, which is not adequately reported or highlighted.
The demographic evolution in the European Union and the continuously increasing need for long-term care services make it necessary to strengthen the quality of provided services through the development of prevention, inspection and reporting systems, further enhancement of the professional dimension of the sector, continuous training of caregivers, and ensuring safe and dignified care conditions for the elderly.
Based on the above, the Commission is asked:
- What measures does it intend to take and how does it plan to support member states in preventing and addressing elder abuse of those in dependent situations?
- Is it considering establishing common European standards regarding training, certification, supervision and evaluation of elderly caregivers, to ensure quality and safety of provided care?
- Does it intend to promote the collection of comparable EU-level data regarding elder abuse incidents and the quality of long-term care services, within the framework of the European Care Strategy?».
