Final evaluation of Eastern Community Legal Centre’s Elder Abuse Response Programs - ROSE and ELSA service trials

This report presents the findings of the evaluation of the first three years of Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC)’s elder abuse service trials – a specialist elder abuse unit, Rights of Seniors in the East (ROSE), and a health justice partnership, Engaging and Living Safely and Autonomously (ELSA). ELSA and ROSE were funded by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department as part of the National Elder Abuse Service Trials, and have both since converted to ongoing programs. ELSA and ROSE provide an elder abuse response service in Melbourne’s East, using an integrated practice model of legal advice and casework, financial counselling and advocacy. ELSA and ROSE also provide secondary consultations and advice to health and welfare professionals and community education. ROSE operates in partnership with Oonah Belonging Place and ELSA is a health-justice partnership with Eastern Health. The evaluation conducted interviews and focus groups with 19 people who had used ELSA or ROSE, 18 ECLC staff, and 25 external stakeholders from services who had engaged with the service trials. The evaluation also drew on internal ELSA and ROSE service data and data from a range of external sources, including recently available data on the prevalence of elder abuse. Overall, nearly all clients valued the services they received highly, even in situations where the abuse was ongoing or issues unresolved. ELSA and ROSE have been shown to be very effective at addressing and responding to elder abuse in roughly half of cases. Where they were not able to resolve the abuse or other issues, this was due to system gaps, failures in the broader health and welfare systems, and/or clients not being able to take up advice due to the complexity of their experience. The key elements underpinning the success of ELSA and ROSE are the integrated interdisciplinary practice model, which provides a wide range of support options, and the partnerships with health and welfare services. The secondary consultation and community education elements of ELSA and ROSE were highly valued by external professional stakeholders. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 restrictions, both programs have achieved their goals to the highest level possible in the circumstances. The program-level recommendations below largely relate to building on the success of the program or fine-tuning accessibility and service delivery. Where substantial program-level issues, such as inconsistent referrals, were identified, they were outside of the control of ECLC and resolution relies on working with partners who are also responding to COVID-19 restrictions and other challenges. The most substantial recommendations relate to systemic barriers, particularly failures in other health and welfare systems. The evaluation findings clearly support the adaptation of the ELSA and ROSE models to other geographical locations and their continuation and expansion within the eastern Melbourne region. Other specialist elder abuse services, including prevention, early intervention, mediation and family therapy, are also needed, but ELSA and ROSE provide an excellent model for future service expansion.