The mistreatment of older people is increasingly recognised internationally as a significant abuse of elders’ human rights. ‘Scandals’ and inquiries into the failure to protect older people from abuse in health and social care systems rarely address, and still less challenge, the social, economic and cultural context to the abuse of older people.

This critical and challenging book makes a strong case for the development of ethically-driven, research-informed policy and practice to safeguard older people from abuse. Drawing on findings of original UK research and framed in an international context, it illustrates ways in which ageism, under-resourced services to older people, target-driven health and social care policy and services, and organisational cultures of blame and scapegoating, are a powerful yet invisible backcloth to elder abuse.

Safeguarding older people from abuse will be essential reading for policy makers, politicians, professionals, campaigners, researchers and educators, and those working in criminal justice fields.