Health care professionals' perspectives on barriers to elder abuse detection and reporting in primary care settings.

The purpose of this study was to explore health care professionals' perspectives on elder abuse to achieve a better understanding of the problems of reporting and to generate ideas for improving the detection and reporting process. Through a mailed survey, nurses, physicians, and social workers were invited to participate in an interview. Nine nurses, 8 physicians, and 6 social workers were interviewed, and thematic analysis was used to identify the following core themes: preconceptions, assessment, interpretation, systems, and knowledge and education. Participants suggested a reorganization of the external reporting system. More frequent and pragmatic education is necessary to strengthen practical knowledge about elder abuse.

APS participatory network case study review.

The goal of this project was to establish the feasibility of linking a practice-based research network of Adult Protective Service (APS) workers to an academic institution. To determine whether this newly formed APS research network was feasible, a qualitative research project was attempted with network members who had e-mail. An e-mailed single case study with three questions sent to the 356 network members yielded a 31% return rate. APS workers suggested 73 different ideal and actual services for the case study abuse victim. Half of the respondents were unable to implement the ideal service. Barriers were predominantly financial, victim and daughter cooperation, and availability of resources. It is realistic and feasible to establish an adult protective service research network with an interdisciplinary academic research team.

Domestic elder abuse and the law.

OBJECTIVES: The authors evaluated the impact of state adult protective service legislation on rates of investigated and substantiated domestic elder abuse. METHODS: Data were collected on all domestic elder abuse reports, investigations, and substantiations for each US state and the District of Columbia for 1999. State statutes and regulations pertaining to adult protective services were reviewed. RESULTS: There were 190 005 domestic elder abuse reports from 17 states, a rate of 8.6 per 1000 elders; 242 430 domestic elder abuse investigations from 47 states, a rate of 5.9; and 102 879 substantiations from 35 states, a rate of 2.7. Significantly higher investigation rates were found for states requiring mandatory reporting and tracking of numbers of reports. CONCLUSIONS: Domestic elder abuse documentation among states shows substantial differences related to specific aspects of state laws.