title: Violence against rural older women: promoting community awareness and action.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify opportunities and challenges in promoting community support for rural older women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV).
  
  
  METHODS
  Using community-based participatory research principles, we engaged in an academic-community partnership to analyse the research literature, estimate IPV incidence and prevalence, ascertain professional and older IPV victim perspectives through focus groups and interviews, and develop a collaborative community response plan. This study took place from 2008 to 2010 in the USA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  IPV in late life is underreported by victims and often unrecognised by the academic and service community. Professionals, while agreeable to collaborating to support older IPV victims, sought coordination and leadership from domestic violence agencies. Older victims stressed the need for improved professional sensitivity to their unique needs and more service options.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The insights generated during this project produced a framework on which rural communities can build to address the hidden and growing problem of late life IPV.
authors.affiliation: Center for Gerontology at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. kroberto@vt.edu
authors.forename: Karen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Roberto
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brossoie
authors.forename: Marya C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: McPherson
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Pulsifer
authors.forename: Patricia N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001364:Awareness; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*