Challenges in handling elder abuse in community care. An exploratory study among nurses and care coordinators in Norway and Australia

Abstract

Community care agencies in both countries need to be aware of the huge impact of the managers' involvement and the services' responsibility and capacity to support professionals in the handling of elder abuse.

Working at the frontline in cases of elder abuse: ‘It keeps me awake at night’

“…Perhaps they believed that the context of providing home-based services is 'inherently and unavoidably unpredictable and therefore risky' [13, p. 385]. A further challenge was a lack of support, with practitioners calling for more guidance and support from organisational policies and managers, a view echoed by Sandmoe et al [1] who identify the important role of managers in helping workers cope in situations of ongoing elder abuse. In terms of support, practitioners in this study were also frustrated to find that organisations such as family violence services were largely not interested in providing support to older people, a problem that has been emphasised by other commentators [14].…”

When the struggle against dejection becomes a part of everyday life: a qualitative study of coping strategies in older abused people

“…None of the participants in our study expressed a desire to have no further contact with their offspring, and those who had lost contact with part of their family reported emotional distress. Therefore, it is imperative that professionals identify the ties in the abusive relationship at an early stage and what the victim wants to achieve by seeking professional assistance 33,34…”

Dementia and elder abuse: Understanding public health nurses’ experiences

“…However, this was not evident in the study. [42] Schmeidel et al (2012) [43] examined the perspectives of healthcare professionals on detection and reporting of elder abuse. Nurses and physicians were not as knowledgeable of elder abuse matters compared with social workers, and nurses were unsure of their role.…”

“…Both Swedish and Japanese nurses despite cultural differences showed a global 'humanness' to the issue of elder abuse. [42] reported that intuition and experience were key factors in identification of suspected elder abuse cases. Clinical assessment was informed by ability of the nurse to observe home situation of client; quality of the information gathered about clients; support of manager and alliances.…”

“…Both nurses and social workers perceive that lack of support, and working in isolation is a recurrent finding within the literature. [35,42,[48][49][50] Working in isolation with complex cases can mitigate against shared decision-making. [42] Cairns and Vreugdenhil (2014) [48] reported that frontline professionals struggle with ethical issues.…”