Elder abuse in the urban context

Elder abuse is a phenomenon, which families are finding difficult to handle on their own. This paper is based on the analysis of calls that came to a leading newspaper office over a two-week period in response to a request by an NGO for information about elder abuse. Over 200 calls were received. Th e cases recorded were related to issues connected to one's residence, finan cial vulnerability, environmental stress, dysfunctional parent-child relati onships, misuse of power, cycle of violence and violation of fights. Effort s required by individual, community and the government to reduce elder abus e are suggested, A training programme to develop skills to work in situatio ns of elder abuse is also suggested.