New Healthy Ageing Strategy released; related resources

The Ministry of Health released its Healthy Ageing Strategy in December 2016.

The Strategy updates and replaces the Health of Older People Strategy 2002, and seeks to align with the New Zealand Health Strategy 2016.

The Healthy Ageing Strategy includes a detailed action plan. Some actions relate to family violence and elder abuse and neglect, including:

• "Work across government and social sector agencies to improve access, and coordinate assistance to socially isolated and other vulnerable older people and develop initiatives that better address the physical and social determinants of health
• Participate in the cross-government Ministerial Group on Family Violence and Sexual Violence Work Programme
• Update the 2007 Family Violence Intervention Guidelines: Elder Abuse and Neglect, and promote their uptake by a wider range of health professionals."

The development of the Strategy included consultation in 2015-2016.

Update: The Ministry of Health has published written submissions and a summary of the public consultation.

Related resources

The Ministry of Social Development has published an updated version of the A Guide for Carers - He Aratohu mā ngā Kaitiaki (2016).

Westpac partnered with Alzheimer’s Auckland to produce materials to assist people living with dementia and their families, which include a brochure How to spot the signs of financial abuse.