The Portal Podcast: Linking Research and Practice for Social Work · Sarah Lonbay

Domestic abuse and older people

·59 min·1 clip

Technique.

Sarah Lombe moves from host to guest for a conversation with Lesley Deacon and Angie. The focus is research on domestic abuse experiences of older people. Carol Southall explains that the project grew out of her work on a local authority safeguarding adults board. The research was prompted by several regional cases in which older people were involved in domestic abuse concerns and deaths. That pattern pushed the team to understand what was happening more clearly. The discussion keeps the research tied to practice rather than separating the two. It also keeps the tone measured and serious. A major theme is the difficulty of leaving a home after years, or even decades, there. For an older person, that home may hold a lifetime of possessions and family memories. A sudden move can therefore feel overwhelming in practical and emotional terms. The hosts connect that reality to the pressures of safeguarding work. They also talk about how squeezed services leave professionals carrying too much. Sarah gives an example from teaching social workers about a person moving into a care home. That person could not afford removals for their belongings. A social worker took time out of the day to move them. The conversation treats that act as meaningful rather than incidental. It shows how much difference a small practical intervention can make during a difficult transition. At the same time, the episode resists the idea that systems should depend on individual heroics. It suggests that good care should not require workers to go beyond what services properly support. The result is a reflective, practice-facing look at domestic abuse in later life and what support can actually matter.

As heard by us

A careful look at domestic abuse in later life, where safeguarding and everyday logistics meet.

The episode treats domestic abuse in later life as a safeguarding issue, a care problem, and a practical challenge of leaving home with belongings, housing, and memories still attached.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a careful, unsensational look at domestic abuse experiences of older people, this is the one to start with.

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