[Retour sur] International seminar – World day against elder abuse Research & innovation – Factual – l’Info de l’Université de Lorraine

On the occasion of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, the 3rd international seminar dedicated to elder abuse at home was held on the Saulcy campus of the University of Lorraine.

Elderly abuse is a major public health problem, affecting approximately one in six people aged 60 and over worldwide each year. This violence can take multiple forms. Whether physical, psychological, sexual, financial or linked to neglect, elder abuse often remains invisible despite its importance in public health.

The day was introduced by Mélanie Couture, Associate Professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Sherbrooke and Holder of the Research Chair on Elder Abuse (Québec), who offered an analysis of situations of mistreatment at home and in the context of close assistance in a cross-perspective between Quebec and France.

This opening served as a reminder of the leading role of Quebec, recognized as a pioneering territory in the development of scientific knowledge and public policies to combat elder abuse.

The first interventions then made it possible to provide numerical benchmarks and elements of context on situations of mistreatment at home, based on the work of Estelle Aragona and Talita Amaral Dos Santos on public policies in France, Quebec and Brazil.

This sequence was followed by an intervention by Sophie Moulias, geriatrician in a home hospitalization service, which shed light on the issues of mistreatment in this context. She recalled that only 5% of people over 80 live in nursing homes in France: having an exhaustive vision of the conditions favorable to staying at home is therefore a priority, and being able to characterize mistreatment is a crucial point.

The discussions then gave way to testimonies and stories from the field, around the issues of aid and well-treatment.

The interventions of Aurore Morbois (Association Avec Nos Proches), Hélène De Chanterac (Association Nouveau Souffle) and Kheira Saadaoui highlighted the realities experienced by caregivers and the areas of tension between support, exhaustion and family responsibility.

The end of the morning session opened a debate on the perspectives of public policies, with an intervention by Pascal Champvert (AD-PA) around the issues of care for the elderly and future directions.

The discussions notably put into perspective the debates around the Old Age Plan, regularly announced but still postponed, as well as the “Aging Well” law of April 8, 2024, which structures the current framework of policies for preventing loss of autonomy and combating abuse.

In the afternoon, three series of questions then structured the discussions:

1. Levers for better prevention and remediation (Mélanie Couture and Sophie Moulias)
2. The difficulties encountered in prevention, detection and remediation (Mélanie Couture and Virginie Stevens) notably integrating the Luxembourg perspective.
3. Training and research issues (Mélanie Couture and Estelle Aragona)

The presentation of the TACT project (Processing of Maltreatment Alerts in Cooperation in Territories) by Estelle Aragona highlighted the importance of cooperation tools between actors. This action research project, developed with professionals in the field, aims to strengthen the processing of reports and territorial coordination through operational and shared tools.

This seminar confirmed the importance of strengthening cooperation between research, field actors and institutions in order to better understand these complex situations and improve practices.

Thank you to all the speakers and participants for the richness of the exchanges and the quality of the contributions:

• Estelle Aragon (Doctor in political science, research engineer, IFROSS-CRDMS, University of Lyon 3)
• Pascal Champvert (Vice-president of the Association of Directors Serving the Elderly, AD-PA)
• Hélène De Chanterac (Co-founder of the Nouveau Souffle Association)
• Mélanie Couture (Associate professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Sherbrooke and Holder of the Research Chair on elder abuse (Québec))
• Aurore Morbois (General delegate of the Association Avec Nos Proches)
• Sophie Moulias (Doctor and hospital practitioner in geriatrics, expertise in medical ethics, at Fondation Å’uvre de la Croix Saint-Simon)
• Kheira Saadaoui (Doctoral student in sociology, CREAT, University of Lorraine)
• Virginie Stevens (Director of ASBL Bientraitance, Luxembourg)

Contact :

• Jean-Philippe Viriot Durandal (Professor of Sociology, CREAT, University of Lorraine)
• Élodie Andre (Partnership development – ​​Health and Autonomy, Community Care, University of Lorraine)
• Talita Amaral dos Santos (Doctoral student in Sociology, CREAT, University of Lorraine)