title: Elder abuse: what coroners know and need to know.
abstract: This article presents findings from a survey examining knowledge of elder abuse among Georgia's coroners. More than half of the 116 respondents indicated that they know "almost nothing" or "a little" about distinguishing signs of physical abuse from signs of aging (54%) and mandatory reporting laws and related elder abuse statutes (63%). When asked the frequency with which older adult cases were referred to the medical examiner, 49% indicated "rarely if ever." Study findings reveal specific opportunities for enhancing training efforts aimed at coroners, who play a critical role in the identification of elder abuse.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia 30302, USA. sstrasser@gsu.edu
authors.forename: Sheryl
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Strasser
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Payne
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: O'Quin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003334:Coroners and Medical Examiners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000193:education; D005845:Georgia; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D019221:Mandatory Reporting; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011361:Professional Competence; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods