Aging Without Violence- Building capacity for trauma informed support for older women who have experienced violence

Aging Without Violence- Building capacity for trauma informed support for older women who have experienced violence Subtheme: Practice Presenters: Group presentation by Ontario Association of Interval & Transition Houses and Elder Abuse Ontario Contact: Amber Wardell, Aging Without Violence Coordinator - OAITH [email protected] Older women who have experienced sexual assault and intimate partner violence, often throughout generations and by multiple perpetrators, often feel invisible within VAW, healthcare, housing, justice, and social service systems. Older women are less likely to report both sexual violence and intimate partner violence compared with their younger counterparts. Older women have unique and diverse service delivery needs. One way these experiences and outcomes can change is through the provision of trauma informed services and supports with an intersectional lens which recognizes the implications of both age and gender when addressing sexual and intimate partner violence experienced by women who are older. Combined with elements of aging such as mental and physical capacity changes, compound effects of emotional, sexual, and physical trauma throughout the lifespan, overall health changes and attitudinal differences, understanding the trauma and violence against older women is a particularly dense topic not often addressed within trauma informed care curriculums. With the support of a provincial Advisory which includes EAO, the Aging Without Violence (AWV) Project currently being sponsored by OAITH (and funded by MCCSS) has recently created an interactive visual training tool workbook focused on increasing the capacity of service providers, health care practitioners and professionals across sectors to provide trauma informed care to older women experiencing violence. The visual training tool includes information on:  Synaptic Activity, neurotransmitters, nervous system responses, and brain structures associated with stress and trauma beyond flight and fight mode  How traumatic events impact an individual’s emotions and behaviour  How the brain processes and recalls traumatic events and how to best provide support  The developing brain, adverse childhood experiences, intergenerational trauma, and options for healing  Traumatic Brain Injury throughout the lifespan, strangulation, and concussion  Using an intersectional lens when providing trauma informed care  Trauma informed interviewing strategies This co-presentation by OAITH and EAO, introduces the workbook published in late Spring 2019 and provides a deeper understanding of the tools, resources, and specific strategies frontline workers can utilize to provide trauma informed support to older women who have experienced both sexual assault and intimate partner violence throughout the lifespan.