Quite often a person will be scared to speak up or admit that they are being abused.
Some adults are less able to protect themselves than others and some have difficulty making their wishes and feelings known.
Building trust and good relationships with the people you support may help them feel that they can speak to you. This takes strong communication skills and working with the individual to understand their preferred communication methods. Be observant to changes in an individual’s behaviour, moods and body language.
If you notice a change, ask them how they are feeling. They may just say that they are fine, do not probe them with more questions as this can make a person feel under pressure to answer or may aggravate or upset them. Your role is to support individuals to have the confidence to speak up, to help them raise concerns and make complaints.
Work in a person-centred way by keeping each individual the focus of their own care and support.
Talk about abuse and help the individual to understand what it is. Give examples and provide information that they will understand and relate to.
A person may not recognise that they are being abused, especially if the abuse has been going on for a long time or being carried out by someone they know and trust. You can still maintain a positive, “can do” attitude, even when the situation is difficult to deal with.
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