Elder Abuse with MaryAnn De Mestre and Nick Donnelly

Your Aged Care Compass

Elder abuse can take many forms; physical, financial, psychological and social harms. We speak mainly about financial abuse in this episode.

Nick and MaryAnn talk about identifying the “red flags” and how to address them. It’s a fine line between advocating for the elder and pushing too hard. Experience in this area is so important.

MaryAnn discusses who the main perpetrators are, what coercion looks like, and understanding capacity. If people have a will and an enduring power of attorney, they report lower rates of abuse.

In this episode:

• What is elder abuse?
• Who do I report elder abuse to?
• Red flags for financial abuse
• What does coercion look like?
• What does capacity look like?
• Who are the perpetrators?
• Power of attorney vs Enduring Power of Attorney vs Enduring Guardianship
• When each document is appropriate
• Clear documentation lowers the risk of elder financial abuse
• Real life examples

Resources Mentioned:

Reporting Elder Abuse:

• NSW Ageing and Disability Commission
• Service NSW
• Communities and Justice NSW
• Compass
• 1800 ELDERhelp (1800 353 374)
• QLD Government
• Elder abuse helpline (Qld)
• WA government services
• Seniors' rights Victoria
• Elder abuse Tasmania
• South Australian Government
• COTA Northern Territory

Connect with MaryAnn De Mestre:

• Email
• Website
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Connect with Nick Donnelly:

• Website
• LinkedIn

Connect with Coral Wilkinson:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Guiding you through My Aged Care | SeeMeACN website

More about Your Aged Care Compass podcast:

Are you supporting an older loved one at home and ready to give up because it’s just too hard? Your Aged Care Compass is aimed at anyone who is caring for an older loved one who still lives at home and is wondering what support is available to them.

We're Coral and Michelle, the sisters behind our business, See Me Aged Care Navigators.

Coral is a registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience in both health and aged care. A former assessor with the aged care assessment team, an advocate and author, there’s not much Coral doesn’t know about Australia’s aged care system.

Michelle is a former pharmacist with over 30 years in the public health and private sectors of pharmacy. Michelle is now client care manager for our business.

Our story started as one of supporting our parents to remain in their own home, to be as independent as possible and remain connected to their community. We reached a point however, of needing extra support and we achieved this because we know Australia’s aged care system so well, we knew what programs could assist us and our parents.

This podcast, Your Aged Care Compass, brings together not only our personal experience in supporting our own ageing parents but also our vast professional experience in supporting other families to keep their loved ones at home.

We will help you makes sense of Australia’s aged care system, from your first contact with My Aged Care through to the different funding streams and assessment workforces, management options for home care packages and extra funding that people might be eligible for.

There's so much more. Topics relating to dementia and legal and financial considerations will be covered, as well as real life stories of where it went wrong for people and how we guided them to get it right.

Your Aged Care Compass will guide you clearly and compassionately to the right support at the right time for your ageing parents and loved ones.

Like what you hear? Please leave us a Rating and Review. We’d love you to share this podcast with any friends or family who have older loved ones.

Mentioned in this episode:

Join our Aged Care Compass community. Our next membership course is open for registration. We're launching this six-week course on September 30. It's our last one for 2024. If you are supporting an older loved one and trying to navigate Australia's aged care system, this course is for you. We explain how the system works and show you everything you need to know to place your loved one in the best position to get the help they need. Click on the link below to see more information about our Aged Care Compass community. https://seemeacn.com.au/aged-care-compass-community/