The HSE in partnership with the Department of Health and Children, Age Action, The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Carer's Association, Garda Siochana, and Active Retirement Ireland has established a committee which is working to highlight the issue of elder abuse and promoting the availability of support and services to people who need them. 

Elder Abuse is defined as ‘‘a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person or violates their human and civil rights.’’

One of the key projects to raise awareness of Elder Abuse is the Open Your Eyes To Elder Abuse short film competition. The competition has two categories:

1. Full time education category open to second and third level students and
2. General public category, open to any group or individual

Each category had a 1^st prize of €1,000; 2^nd prize of €500 and 3^rd prize of €250.

The closing date for the competition was October 29th. 

The HSE received a significant volume of entries for both categories. We would like to thank all those who entered the competition and congratulate them for the quality and creativity portrayed in the films. We hope that, through this exercise, a greater understanding of elder abuse, including the types of abuse that can be experienced and who can perpetrate abuse, has been achieved.

Judging of the films is now complete and the following have been chosen by the panel as the successful entries in the two categories.

General Category

1^st Place           Greg Mulcahyand Bernard O'Farrell 

                       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6AWW4AJTJw

2^nd Place          Laurence O’Byrne and Stevie Russell

                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TU6fkCgV3I

3^rd Place          Andrew T. Jordan

                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNCYv1g64xI

Education Category

1^st Place           Tim Shearwood

                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgM6yuKqrWg

2^nd Place          Aodha Molloy

                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIz1b7oiv6U

3^rd Place          Jack Daniel-Dempsey

                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q69N5O03R30

Once again the HSE would like to thank all those who entered the competition and, in particular, to congratulate the successful entrants.

A full list of the rules, judging criteria, tems & conditions and entry details are available here ; entries have to conform to the entry rules and must be submitted by e-mail to audrey.lambourn@hse.ie  

The film has to be at least 30 seconds long but not longer than 60 seconds and it will be judged on the following criteria:

Judging Criteria

• How effective is the short film at incorporating the theme of highlighting Elder Abuse?
• Accuracy: is the film based on accurate facts and information?
• Creativity and originality: how unique and innovative are the ideas presented in the short film?
• Production quality: is the film well produced? Are the images crisp and dialogue (if any) clear?
• Appropriateness: is the short film appropriate to be placed on the HSE website and the websites of Age Action, Carers Association, The Alzheimer Society of Ireland etc.

If you have any queries please e-mail them to openyoureyes@hse.ie

You may find it useful to view the tutorial video on how to upload videos on to YouTube or you can read the tutorial guide.