A/HRC/39/32 often women. Although care services for older adults were growing, family caregivers provided the bulk of the care needed for older persons. It was also relevant to consider the expected amount of time that older persons might live without disability, since family often provided the care during those years of living with disability. 42. Research had found that family was one of the few institutions that did not segregate by age, and that young adults viewed older family members with less negative bias than they viewed older strangers. In addition, studies had indicated that when older spouses were in need of health care, both patients and their partners reported improved marital relationships. Still, although closeness may be one result of caring for an ill spouse or family member, caregiving was generally regarded as a stressful situation that placed great strain on family members. In consequence, overly strained family caregivers were more likely to violate the human rights of older recipients of care. Moreover, when abuse or violence had occurred in families in earlier years, it may be more likely to reoccur in later years. 43. The avenues for promoting age-friendly environments included addressing ageism within families through education. Quality of care improved when family caregivers were educated about the expected behaviours associated with dementia, and about how to communicate with and care for someone with diminished cognitive capacities in a kindly way. Beyond education, family caregivers benefited from emotional support from community support groups and other community resources. In addition, one of the greatest risk factors for mistreatment of older adults was social isolation. When a primary caregiver was the only person that a dependent older adult had contact with, the risk of mistreatment increased because of the increased strain and decreased outside surveillance. Involving secondary family caregivers and helping to coordinate their efforts could increase the safety of older adults and lessen burdens carried by primary caregivers. When there were multiple family caregivers, a natural check and balance occurred. 44. Although many community resources were available to caregivers, these did not focus on family relationships. Teaching families to communicate, resolve conflict, forgive past hurts and plan for the future could facilitate better care and lower the risk of abuse. Families could encourage a network of care providers for older family members, especially during times of care transition, such as when receiving a new diagnosis, during and after hospitalizations and during end-of-life care. Family members could support primary caregivers by facilitating their receipt of education, support and respite. Ultimately, families shared the responsibility to ensure quality care and thus protect the human rights of their ageing family members. 45. Marie Beaulieu, the Research Chair on Mistreatment of Older Adults at the Research Centre on Ageing, at Sherbrooke University, Canada, affirmed that age-friendly communities should have a positive approach in promoting the social inclusion of older adults, establish policies, programmes and actions to improve physical and social environments, and adopt a community-based strategy with an impact on individual wellbeing. She described the evolution of the definition of elder abuse and neglect, which was a social, public health and human rights problem. The World Health Organization had defined it as a single or a repeated act, or an absence of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there was an expectation of trust, which caused harm or distress to an older person. 46. The definition of elder abuse and neglect included violence. Mistreatment could be intentional, although many times it occurred unintentionally. The categories of abuse included physical, sexual, psychological, material and financial abuse, violation of rights, ageism and institutional mistreatment. Ageism consisted of negative or positive stereotypes, prejudice or discrimination against (or to the advantage of) older persons on the basis of their chronological age or their perceived age. It could be self-directed or other-directed, implicit or explicit, and expressed on different levels. It influenced everyone to varying degrees, by negative stereotypes and discourses. Those misguided assumptions led people to misinterpret various situations, which could ultimately lead to mistreatment. 47. The violation of rights occurred in all types of mistreatment, and implied the infringement of rights and freedoms. It included acts of violence, such as forced medical 11