Choose a topic from the categories below.
What is Elder Abuse?
Fact
Sheet on the types of elder abuse and related warning signs, as well as the long-term effects on the
health and well-being of older persons. Information is provided for reporting elder abuse and the
Seniors Safety Line to assist in navigating support agencies and services in Ontario.
IPV and GBV
To raise awareness about the prevalence and impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) among older adults in Canada and to highlight the need for support and resources for vulnerable groups, Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario (EAPO) created the infographic: Understanding Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Among Older Adults in Canada.
This infographic emphasizes the heightened vulnerability of specific groups, including Indigenous women, women with disabilities, and seniors with cognitive impairments like dementia. By illustrating these critical aspects, EAPO aims to inform and educate the public, policymakers, and service providers about the urgent need for targeted interventions and comprehensive support systems to protect older adults from IPV.
Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is a pervasive issue affecting individuals of all ages, including older adults. This fact sheet addresses the pervasive issue of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) specifically affecting older adults. It aims to raise awareness about the unique challenges and impacts of GBV on the senior population.
This fact sheet explains the importance of having a safety plan for older adults who may be in unsafe or abusive situations. A safety plan is a personal action plan that helps increase your safety when you are at risk.
Download Fact Sheet in: English
This fact sheet outlines personalized safety planning strategies for older adults experiencing abuse, including actions to take while living with an abuser, preparing to leave, staying safe after leaving, and guidance for service providers to offer respectful, confidential support.
Download Fact Sheet in: English
Financial Abuse
Financial abuse can be prevented when we understand the root causes. In order to protect each other from financial abuse, we must know the signs. This brochure provide an overview of financial abuse, type of abuse, including power of attorney, tactics used to take advantage of older adults, list of supports/resources for help and reporting.
tips on preventing financial abuse along with contact information for reporting suspected elder abuse and the Seniors Safety Line to assist with navigating support services in Ontario. 
Practical Tips When Banking is a fact sheet to prevent financial abuse. This tip sheet is intended to provide information on ways you, the banking customer, can protect your financial assets! A list of organizations that provide assistance and information are included.
Download Fact Sheet in: English
The fact sheet explains what is a scam and tactics used to take advantage of older adults. Case examples illustrate the types of scams prevalent in society and how seniors can be vulnerable to this form of financial abuse. Cautions of Do’s and Don’ts are listed and important steps to protect from frauds and scams. Helpful resources with contact information for supports and reporting are included.
Download Fact Sheet in: English | French | Italian | Korean | Portuguese | Russian
Financial Abuse is the most com
mon form of elder abuse. Fortunately, you can take some easy, practical steps to protect your money. Preventing financial abuse starts with financial literacy, which equips you with the knowledge, skills and confidence to protect your money. This tool will provide helpful tips for increasing your financial literacy, it provides tips for safe banking, safe computing, and avoiding frauds and scams.
Download Tool in: English | French | Farsi | Punjabi | Russian
This Fact Sheet explains what is a scam and tactics used to take advantage of older adults. Case examples illustrate the types of scams prevalent in society and how seniors can be vulnerable to this form of financial abuse. Cautions of Do’s and Don’ts are listed and important steps to protect from frauds and scams. Helpful resources with contact information for supports and reporting are included.
Download Fact Sheet in: English | French | Italian | Korean | Portuguese | Russian
Financial elder abuse is the most common form of elder abuse. Financial elder abuse includes any illegal or improper use of a person’s money, assets, or property without the person’s permission or knowledge. It also includes illegal or improper use of a person’s power of attorney. Financial elder abuse results in monetary or personal gain for the abuser and/or monetary or personal loss for the older adult.
Download in: English
Financial abuse has individual and broader social costs, so we all have a collective interest in preventing and addressing it. This Fact Sheet provides examples of the impact on older adults and its consequences and what can we do – Support and Report! We all have a role to play in preventing and addressing elder abuse. Let’s all do our part.
This booklet contains legal information, presented in plain language, about some of the tools available to deal with
situations of elder abuse: • Revoking a Continuing Power of Attorney for Property • Reporting Elder Abuse to the Police • Guardianship Investigations • Statutory Guardianships • Court-Appointed Guardianships • Representatives Appointed by the Consent and Capacity Board • Civil Actions for the Recovery of Property and • Important Provincial Resources.
This booklet was developed in collaboration with the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, it contains legal information for educational purposes only and is not constructed as legal advice.
Download Booklet in: English
Understanding Elder Financial Abuse. Tips for Service Providers. (Infographic).
Download Booklet in: English
Understanding Elder Financial Abuse, Infographic part 2. Tips for Seniors 2024.
Download Infographic in: English
Frauds and Scams
Frauds and scams are an injustice that we can all prevent and address through awareness, social support, and reporting. This informational Brochure provides tips on recognizing the signs of fraud, types of scams, what we can do and a list of resources to access for support and reporting.
This Fact Sheet explains what is a scam and tactics used to take advantage of older adults. Case examples illustrate the types of scams prevalent in society and how seniors can be vulnerable to this form of financial abuse. Cautions of Do’s and Don’ts are listed and important steps to protect from frauds and scams. Helpful resources with contact information for supports and reporting are included.
Download Fact Sheet in: English | French | Italian | Korean | Portuguese | Russian
Frauds and scams are an injustice that we can all prevent and address through awareness, social support, and reporting. This Infographic provides tips on how to protect yourself.
Download Infographic in English
This Infographic explains what is a cyber security and tips on how older adults can protect themselves. Cyber security is the set of practices that you have in place to protect your devices and personal and financial information. Cyber criminals target individuals to gain information that they can exploit to steal money from you.
Download Infographic: English
Romance scam fraudsters use dating and social networking sites to contact their victims. They create accounts using stolen photos and backstories that often suggest they work in the military, overseas or in business. They profess their love to gain a victims’ trust and, eventually, their money. This Infographic will help seniors recognize the red flags and how to protect themselves from Romance Scams.
Download Infographic: English
This engaging and informative infographic provides essential tips for seniors to recognize and avoid gift card scams, a growing form of fraud targeting older adults. It highlights common red flags, such as unexpected calls demanding payment through gift cards, urgent requests claiming to be from family members in distress, or offers that seem “too good to be true.”
Download Infographic: English
Dementia and Elder Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Its time to talk about sexual abuse of older adults! This Fact Sheet on sexual abuse of older adult provides information on what puts older adults at risk, how to recognize physical signs and emotional behaviours of older adult who could be victims of sexual abuse and how to prevent sexual abuse.
To raise awareness about the prevalence and impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) among older adults in Canada and to highlight the need for support and resources for vulnerable groups, Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario (EAPO) created the infographic: Understanding Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Among Older Adults in Canada.
This infographic emphasizes the heightened vulnerability of specific groups, including Indigenous women, women with disabilities, and seniors with cognitive impairments like dementia. By illustrating these critical aspects, EAPO aims to inform and educate the public, policymakers, and service providers about the urgent need for targeted interventions and comprehensive support systems to protect older adults from IPV.
Download Infographic in: English
Response and Intervention
Health care providers have an essential role to play in addressing elder abuse. Providers must be able to recognize when critical interventions are needed and know how to access resources quickly and effectively. Providers can use this screening tool to aid their responses.
This quick reference guide provides personal support workers (PSWs) actions to take if they suspect or witness elder abuse. The 2 page guide reviews providers role of elder abuse identification – “RIR” Recognize signs, Intervene, Respond.
Download Guide in: English
The following resources were identified during the virtual conference “Safe Havens: Emergency Housing Solutions for Older Adults in Canada” held in May 2024. They are listed in the order of the presentations.Getting Help
Telling someone know you are at-risk or experiencing abuse can be difficult. This tool guides older adults in approaches on how to start the conversation and provides tips on how to protect yourself from abuse. Remember, no one deserves to be abused or mistreated.
When we suspect or witness abuse it can be difficult to start a conversation with the older adult as abuse is an emotional issue to approach. These tools provide by-standers information on how to ask about abuse, including sample conversation, and how to handle a situation if the older adult refuses help., what you need to know and what to do if you suspect the older adult is in immediate danger and where to report.
For many older adults it makes sense to share a household and share resources. There are some key points to consider before moving in with a relative or friend to prevent elder abuse. This fact sheet provides top concerns of living with family members as well as a checklist of questions to consider before moving in with family.
Provincial directory of organizations and services who can support and respond to the needs of to older adults in the community. The Directory is divided into sections: Information and Referral, 24 hour
Support or Crisis Lines, Reporting, Advocacy, Community and Home Support Services, Government
Programs & Services, Housing, Indigenous Supports, Legal Advice, Long-Term Care and Retirement Homes, and Social and Recreational Centres.
Download Directory in: English
Summer is a time to relax, unwind and travel. EAPO has created a new Infographic, “Travel Safety Tips for Seniors” to help seniors stay safe on their travels outside Canada this summer season.
Download Infographic in: English
EAPO has created a new Infographic, “7 Ways to Support Seniors in Your Community” (In recognition of National Volunteer Week).
Download Infographic in: English
EAPO has created a new Infographic, “6 ACTIONS for promoting dignity, respect and equality for 2SLGBTQI Seniors”
Download Infographic in: English
First, and perhaps the easiest, way to begin to spread awareness about elder abuse prevention initiatives is to incorporate research-informed messaging and organizational tools to optimize outreach. Use this SMART kit to create framed messaging in your social media by keeping up to date with relevant
awareness days with our outreach calendar and utilizing reframed posts with graphics to engage your
audiences.
Download: EAPO_SMARTsocialmediatips_2021
Apply these ready to use social media posts to your awareness messaging. These posts can be used for special awareness days or general promotions to increase awareness and education of elder abuse to the public. A listing of special awareness days can be found in the 2021 Outreach Calendar in SMART.
Suggested links to EAPO Facts sheets and Tools are provided, which can be included in your posts as links to resources for further information. A complete listing of Tools and Resources are available at www.eapon.ca.
See EAPO’s toolkit graphics to add even more content to your post to engage audiences!
Download: EAPO_SMARTsocialmediasampleposts_2021
Use EAPO’s Social Media Graphics to add even more content to your post to engage audiences!
Apply these ready to use social media graphics to your awareness messaging. These images can be used for special awareness days or general promotions to increase awareness and education of elder abuse to the public. A listing of special awareness days can be found in the 2021 Outreach Calendar in SMART. Suggested links to EAPO Facts sheets and Tools can be found in EAPO’s SMART Sample Social Media Posts, which can be included in your posts.
Download: EN: Emotional l Financial l Physical
FR: Émotionnels l Financiers l Physiques
Use this calendar to stay up-to-date on relevant awareness days that can be tied into elder abuse prevention messaging and tools. See our sample social media posts, links, and graphics that alight with specific awareness days to engage and promote to your social networks
Download: EAPO SMART calendar 2025-2026
EAPO Resource Order Form
EAPO collaterals for your upcoming Seniors Fairs and Community Events are available. Please complete form indicating your needs (quantity & language) as well as providing a shipping address & contact information for shipment. Please email your completed form to : [email protected].
Download: EAPO Resource Request Order Form pdf | doc
Please find some materials below:
Social Media Awareness Raising Toolkit (SMART)