Screening and detection of elder abuse: Research opportunities and lessons learned from emergency geriatric care, intimate partner violence, and child abuse.
This article provides an overview of elder abuse screening and detection methods for community-dwelling and institutionalized older adults, including general issues and challenges for the field. Then, discussions of applications in emergency geriatric care, intimate partner violence (IPV), and child abuse are presented to inform research opportunities in elder abuse screening. The article provides descriptions of emerging screening and detection methods and technologies from the emergency geriatric care and IPV fields. We also discuss the variety of potential barriers to effective screening and detection from the viewpoint of the older adult, caregivers, providers, and the health care system, and we highlight the potential harms and unintended negative consequences of increased screening and mandatory reporting. We argue that research should continue on the development of valid screening methods and tools, but that studies of perceived barriers and potential harms of elder abuse screening among key stakeholders should also be conducted.
a University Center for Social and Urban Research , University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , USA.
Scott R
SR
Beach
b Emergency Medicine , Washington University School of Medicine-St. Louis , St. Louis , Missouri , USA.
Christopher R
CR
Carpenter
c Weill Cornell Medical College , New York , New York , USA.
Tony
T
Rosen
d Johns Hopkins School of Nursing , Baltimore , Maryland , USA.
Phyllis
P
Sharps
e School of Social Policy and Practice , University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.
Richard
R
Gelles
D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D004552:Elder Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005853:Geriatrics; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D000066511:Intimate Partner Violence; D008134:Long-Term Care; D019221:Mandatory Reporting; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis
Child abuse; elder abuse screening; emergency geriatric care; intimate partner violence; mandatory reporting