Mistreatment of Older Women in Three European Countries

Abstract

Evidence concerning the incidence and nature of abuse of the elderly comes mainly from North America. We explored the experiences of abuse of older women and caretakers in three European countries and investigated services available to abused older women. Just less than 20% of our sample of women older than the age of 59 had experienced some form of financial, psychological, or physical abuse. Of those mistreated, 24% reported abuse ongoing over years, and 39% reported distressing effects persisting for years. European support services are only beginning to focus on this problem, and further research is needed to define the best practices.

Developing an Empirical Profile for Elder Abuse Research in Canada

“…Within the elder abuse literature, it is found that spouses commit the highest proportion of victimization, followed by adult children and other family Downloaded by [Adams State University] at 12:32 21 November 2014 members (McGechie, 2007;Mears, 2003;Ockleford et al, 2003;Rennison & Rand, 2003). A precipitating factor associated with increased risk of abuse is related to the type of spousal relationship.…”

Family Violence among Older Adult Patients Consulting in Primary Care Clinics: Results from the ESA (Enquête sur la santé des aînés) Services Study on Mental Health and Aging

“…3,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The prevalence of family violence in older adults varies from one study to another. These inconsistencies may be related to differences in the sociocultural context of the populations studied or to methodological differences regarding the definition and measurement of family violence, 3,[17][18][19][20] which make it difficult to interpret results. 4 In addition, methods of data collection can introduce information bias associated with the social desirability phenomenon.…”

“…23 Data on family violence obtained from telephone interviews or self-administered questionnaires may also be subject to both selection and information bias, which can all impact prevalence estimates. 11,18,24 Population surveys reported that between 3% and 22% of older adults suffered from at least 1 form of family violence in the past year. 3,6,9,10,17,23,25 In Canada, few data exist on the prevalence of family violence against older adults.…”

“…Women would be more often victims of violence than men 8,6,18. Regarding age, studies have not reported consistent findings.…”

“…In fact, 1 out of 14 incidents are reported to the police 23. Data on family violence obtained from telephone interviews or self-administered questionnaires may also be subject to both selection and information bias, which can all impact prevalence estimates 11,18,24…”