Elder abuse in the COVID-19 era based on calls to the National Center on Elder Abuse resource line.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated circumstances that place older adults at higher risk for abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Identifying characteristics of elder abuse during COVID-19 is critically important. This study characterized and compared elder abuse patterns across two time periods, a one-year period during the pandemic, and a corresponding one-year period prior to the start of the pandemic. METHODS: Contacts (including social media contacts, and email; all referred to as "calls" for expediency) made to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) resource line were examined for differences in types of reported elder abuse and characteristics of alleged perpetrators prior to the pandemic (Time 1; March 16, 2018 to March 15, 2019) and during the pandemic (Time 2; March 16, 2020 to March 15, 2021). Calls were examined for whether or not abuse was reported, the types of reported elder abuse, including financial, physical, sexual, emotional, and neglect, and characteristics of callers, victims, and alleged perpetrators. Chi-square tests of independence compared frequencies of elder abuse characteristics between time periods. RESULTS: In Time 1, 1401 calls were received, of which 795 calls (56.7%) described abuse. In Time 2, 1009 calls were received, of which 550 calls (54.5%) described abuse. The difference between time periods in frequency of abuse to non-abuse calls was not significant ([Formula: see text]). Time periods also did not significantly differ with regard to caller, victim, and perpetrator characteristics. Greater rates of physical abuse ([Formula: see text] and emotional abuse ([Formula: see text] were reported during Time 2 after adjustment for multiple comparisons. An increased frequency of multiple forms of abuse was also found in Time 2 compared to Time 1 ([Formula: see text]. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest differences in specific elder abuse subtypes and frequency of co-occurrence between subtypes between time periods, pointing to a potential increase in the severity of elder abuse during COVID-19.

Elder Abuse Characteristics Based on Calls to the National Center on Elder Abuse Resource Line.

Characterizing the types of elder abuse and identifying the characteristics of perpetrators are critically important. This study examined the types of elder abuse reported to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) resource line. Calls were coded with regard to whether abuse was reported, types of abuse alleged, whether multiple abuse subtypes occurred, and who perpetrated the alleged abuse. Of the 1,939 calls, 818 (42.2%) alleged abuse, with financial abuse being the most commonly reported (449 calls, 54.9%). A subset of calls identified multiple abuse types (188, 23.0%) and multiple abusers (149, 18.2%). Physical abuse was most likely to co-occur with another abuse type (61/93 calls, 65.6%). Family members were the most commonly identified perpetrators (309 calls, 46.8%). This study reports the characteristics of elder abuse from a unique source of frontline data, the NCEA resource line. Findings point to the importance of supportive resources for elder abuse victims and loved ones.