“It’s important to take a stand against all forms of ageism in society,” according to hurling legend Brian Cody who recently attended an HSE South East event in Kilkenny to officially launch World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

The annual awareness day highlights how violence and abuse against older people is a worldwide phenomenon that can take place in many forms. The key theme for the 2023 day globally was challenging all forms of ageism.

 Speaking at the event, Brian Cody said he was “delighted to support the HSE South East safeguarding committee in officially launching their activities for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.”

 Made up of representatives from various statutory, community, and voluntary bodies, the regional safeguarding committee is involved in a variety of projects this year.

These include a visual information campaign led by the credit unions in the south east. The campaign is being broadcast through InfoTV in the credit unions and will specifically target older people and people with specific needs. 

According to Grace Rothwell, Chief Officer, HSE South East Community Healthcare, they wanted to “get the message out that we have to challenge all forms of ageism. We have to encourage people to get in touch if they have safeguarding concerns about any vulnerable adult.”

Noting that there was a “combined potential audience of 315,000 people across the credit union network in the south east,” Grace added that they were also “targeting the postal service, libraries and many other public services with the latest edition of our safeguarding newsletter. Ultimately however, we all know that safeguarding should be and is everyone’s business.”