title: Recognition of elder abuse by home care workers and older people in Romania.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  No previous studies have considered elder abuse in Eastern Europe. We aimed to determine the proportion of home care workers and older people receiving care in a Romanian home care service who correctly identified elder abuse in a vignette, and who had detected elder abuse at work.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 2009, care workers and clients of a non-government home care organization serving four areas in Romania completed the Caregiver Scenario Questionnaire to measure ability to identify abuse. We asked the professionals whether they had detected a case of abuse.
  
  
  RESULTS
  35 (100%) professionals and 79 (65.8%) older people took part. Four (11.4%) professionals had encountered a case of elder abuse, two (5.7%) in the last year. No staff and only one older person correctly identified all four abusive strategies in a vignette. Staff with more professional caregiving experience recognized fewer abusive strategies (r = -0.46, p = 0.007).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rates of identification were worryingly low among all professionals, and this was more marked if they had worked longer, suggesting their experiences may have reduced their ability to detect it. Mandatory abuse training for care professionals, and strategies to support reporters of suspected abuse, could help improve the management of elder abuse in all countries.
authors.affiliation: Equilibre Humanitarian Association, Bucharest, Romania. ioanacaciula@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ioana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Caciula
authors.forename: Gill
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Livingston
authors.forename: Rodica
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caciula
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012383:Romania; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce; D016526:Workload