Crochet blooms help spread message that elder abuse is not OK

Each hand-made crocheted blossom is a representation of a serious issue – elder abuse – and the purple road is a visual message that it’s not OK to abuse older people and it’s not OK to accept abuse from anyone ... family member, friend or carer.

The purple road was started by volunteers working on the Older People’s Peer Education Scheme, a pilot program targeting seniors across five local government areas.

The scheme is a partnership between the Southern Communities Advocacy Legal Education Service and the Northern Suburbs Community Legal Centre. It recruits older people to act as volunteer peer educators to individuals and seniors’ groups to reduce the incidence and severity of elder abuse.

Community legal centre manager Karen Merrin said the road, which now has hundreds of flowers and is nearly four metres long, visits libraries and community centres with information about elder abuse prevention.

People who see it often return to add their own flower. “It’s something really subtle,” Karen said, “but it talks to people.”

A second road has been started in the southern suburbs.

The Older People’s Peer Education Scheme has 18 volunteers in the northern suburbs and 12 in the south.

The volunteers – the oldest is 84 – have already reached hundreds of seniors.

The project is funded by Lotteries West and the State Attorney General’s department.

A project kit is being developed so the program can be rolled out across the state.