title: Elder Abuse: Global Situation, Risk Factors, and Prevention Strategies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Elder mistreatment is now recognized internationally as a pervasive and growing problem, urgently requiring the attention of health care systems, social welfare agencies, policymakers, and the general public. In this article, we provide an overview of global issues in the field of elder abuse, with a focus on prevention.
  
  
  METHODS
  This article provides a scoping review of key issues in the field from an international perspective.
  
  
  RESULTS
  By drawing primarily on population-based studies, this scoping review provided a more valid and reliable synthesis of current knowledge about prevalence and risk factors than has been available. Despite the lack of scientifically rigorous intervention research on elder abuse, the review also identified 5 promising strategies for prevention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings highlight a growing consensus across studies regarding the extent and causes of elder mistreatment, as well as the urgent need for efforts to make elder mistreatment prevention programs more effective and evidence based.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. kap6@cornell.edu.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pillemer
authors.affiliation: Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burnes
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Riffin
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York.
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lachs
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D014943:Global Health; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Elder abuse; Epidemiology; Prevention; Risk factor models