Mervyn Eastman began his career in the late 1960’s as a welfare assistant in East London. In the early 1970’s he trained in social work and has worked in all fields of social care relating to the needs of older people. In 1995 he co-founded and chairs the Practitioner Alliance Against Abuse of Vulnerable Adults (PAVA), and following early retirement from the post of director of social services in a North London Borough, became in August 2001 director of the Better Government for Older People.