Best Practices for the Identification of Elder Abuse and Neglect in Home Health

Abstract

Elder abuse and neglect (EA/N) affects over 1 million older adults each year, and disproportionately affects persons with dementia and older women. Home healthcare professionals are in an advantageous position to assess for, identify, and report EA/N. Lack of knowledge on EA/N risk factors, assessment tools, and mandatory reporting guidelines often prevent professionals from identifying and reporting EA/N. This article provides practical guidance on EA/N risk factors, assessment tools, and reporting responsibilities that can easily be implemented in practice.

The education of health professionals in coping with violence against elderly women

“…Elderly women have exacerbated moral and social vulnerability, making them the target of higher rates of violence (JEON, 2019;Pickering, 2016). The macho and patriarchal culture defends policies that reinforce the devaluation and exclusion of elderly women (GOLDEMBERG, 1997;NICODEMO, 2010).…”

“…Because the aggressors are mostly close people, the dependence and coexistence that links the domestic environment makes it even more difficult to seek help (FILEBORN, 2017;Pickering, 2016;BERNARDES, 2016).…”

“…It is known that cognitive impairment or impaired health, caregiver stress, low education and socioeconomic level, are risk factors for violence (FILEBORN, 2017), not to mention the female gender itself (PICKERING, 2016). Thus, violence against elderly women is an obstacle to public health, as it affects physical and mental health and mortality rate (PICKERING, 2016).…”

Examining nurses' role in Adult Protective Services related to safeguarding older people

“…However, after conducting a comprehensive literature search, we did not find enough literature to explain what role these APS nurses play in the agency. While we know community nurses play a key role in the identification, management and prevention of self‐neglect and elder abuse (Band‐Winterstein, 2018; Day & McCarthy, 2015; Day et al, 2015; Johnson, 2015; Mauk, 2011; Phelan, 2010), and nurses make unique contributions to interprofessional collaborative efforts to combat elder mistreatment (Capezuti, 2011; Erlingsson et al, 2011; Hirst et al, 2016; Kleba & Falk, 2014; Meeks‐Sjostrom, 2013; Mont et al, 2016; Phelan, 2018; Pickering et al, 2016; Sullivan, 2015; Winterstein, 2012), there is scant focus on nurses working with/in APS to investigate and substantiate mistreatment beyond being mandatory reporters in healthcare. Therefore, this study aimed to analyse a national survey with APS nurses to examine aspects of their adult safeguarding role.…”