Citation

Tozija F, Gjorgjev D, Kochubovski M. Journal of Environmental Protection and Ecology 2012; 13(4): 2173-2185.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Violence and maltreatment of elderly are serious public health problems at global and national level, but is still a social taboo, considered as a private issue, underreported and ignored in many countries. The overall goal of this paper is to illustrate the magnitude and risk factors of violence and maltreatment of elderly in Republic of Macedonia, correlated with demographic change and ageing and to give recommendations for evidence-informed preventive programmes. Official data from surveillance systems and surveys have been used. The basic principles and methods of public health approach and ecological model are applied. Elderly in Macedonia in most cases are victims of self-inflicted violence, participating with 20-30% in all suicides, most often caused by hanging, strangulation and suffocation, men having higher death rates than women and suicide rates increase with the age. Suicide SDR rate in persons 65+ is 21.2/100 000 in Macedonia, similar to the rates of European Region average and European Union members. Homicides in elderly in Macedonia have significantly lower rate compared to suicides, most caused by assault by unspecified means. SDR homicide rate of 65+ in Macedonia is 2.6/100 000, similar to the European Union average but much lower than in other EU countries (SDR 15-20/100 000). Elderly are frequently exposed to violence in family with reported rate of 4%. The importance of violence and maltreatment of elderly as a public health and social problem is highlighted, that should be tackled through coordinated public health action and evidence-informed public health interventions.

Language: en

Keywords

Prevention; European Union; violence; suicide; Violence; Elderly; public health; risk assessment; risk factor; Maltreatment; elderly care; elderly population; Ecological model; Macedonia [Southern Europe]