title: Elder abuse in nursing homes: an ecological perspective.
abstract: Population trends suggest that the next 20 years will witness a dramatic increase in the adult population aged 65 and older. Projected increases in the elderly population are expected to significantly increase the stress on family and professional caretakers. Stress, in the context of caregiving relationships, is a risk factor associated with increased prevalence of elder abuse in familial and institutional settings. As increasing numbers of older adults are moved from family caregiving to nursing home care settings, it becomes important to identify the pattern of elder abuse risk factors in nursing home facilities. An ecological model is proposed for better understanding the risk factors associated with elder abuse in nursing homes and the complex interaction of individual/person characteristics and contextual factors in institutional elder abuse. An ecological perspective to institutional elder abuse provides a framework for guiding and informing future research on the risk factors of nursing home abuse and, in turn, for the development of effective interventions and relevant social policies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA. schiambe@msu.edu
authors.forename: Lawrence B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Schiamberg
authors.forename: Gia G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Barboza
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oehmke
authors.forename: Zhenmei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Griffore
authors.forename: Robin P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Weatherill
authors.forename: Levente
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: von Heydrich
authors.forename: Lori A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Post
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology