Changing policy landscape around elder abuse in England and Wales

Abuse of older people is a global public health problem.1 In 2021, the World Health Organization launched the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing, with a key focus on tackling elder abuse.2 The UK is also giving attention to the problem.3 In 2023, the domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, Nicole Jacobs, supported a call by the UK charity Hourglass, which focuses on violence against older people, for a prevention framework across the four nations.3

Predatory marriage and abuse of lasting powers of attorney (LPA) are two forms of elder abuse that are of growing concern in the UK. Predatory marriages are under-reported but a rising problem.4 LPA abuse of older people is also under-reported but may be more widespread, linked to the enormous numbers of LPAs registered annually at the Office of the Public Guardian: there are now almost seven million LPAs in the UK, with over a million registered in 2023 alone. Over 50% of people signing powers of attorney (donors) are aged over 75 years.5

For most older …