There continues to be lack of public awareness about elder abuse. To help address this issue, we developed and piloted an elder abuse peer educator training program from an educational gerontology and health empowerment perspective. We describe the process employed to train older adults as peer educators. We present evaluation results from data…

Over the past 40 years, the assessment and scientific study of capacity in older adults has emerged as a distinct field of clinical and research activity for psychologists. This new field reflects the convergence of several trends: the aging of American society, the growing incidence and prevalence of dementia, and the patient rights,…

With our communities rapidly aging, there is always a clear need for greater knowledge on how to serve elders. Professionals must be able to recognize cases of abuse and neglect and provide appropriate follow up services. Through reviewing recent literature, this paper surveys existing assessment tools and interventions, describes characteristics…

Purpose of the Study: Use archived public data from Arizona to explore relationships among selected institutional and resident risk and situation-specific factors and complaints and substantiated allegations of various types of mistreatment in assisted living facilities (ALFs). Design and Methods: An exploratory/descriptive 2-group design was…

Purpose: This study was designed to improve the measurement of financial exploitation (FE) by testing psychometric properties of the older adult financial exploitation measure (OAFEM), a client self-report instrument. Design and Methods: Rasch item response theory and traditional validation approaches were used. Questionnaires were administered by…

As the number of older adults in the United States increases, so will the expected number of allegations of elder abuse. Adult protective services (APS) staff are likely to handle much more complex situations, and in growing numbers, due to the presence of chronic and life-limiting conditions of their clients. The APS workers, in this national…

Despite the prevailing agreement among researchers that the increasing rate of elder abuse in Israel is relatively understudied, not sufficiently identified, and not appropriately addressed, literature on elderly abuse in the Israeli society remains limited. The common discourse on aging, eldercare, and elder abuse and neglect, mainly revolves…

Background: Nursing aides' attitudes condoning elder abuse are a possible risk factor for executing abusive behaviors against elder residents of long-term care facilities but have been studied infrequently. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to assess nursing aides' attitudes that condone abusive behaviors toward elderly people, as well as the…

Perceptions of extreme, moderate, and mild forms of elder abuse among African-American women (n=25) and men (n=10) were examined. African-American respondents emphasized physical abuse when giving examples of extremely abusive behavior. Along with physical abuse, verbal abuse was the most frequently identified form of abuse, and was significantly…

This document presents the final report from an educational and community development program designed to raise awareness about the abuse and neglect of the elderly. The Elder Abuse Prevention Project is briefly described in terms of project goals, objectives, the model used, the target groups served, and the evaluation processes employed. It is…

Perceptions of elder abuse were examined in Japanese women (n =100) and men (n =46). Japanese women and men both emphasized physical aggression, followed by neglect and blaming, when giving examples of extremely abusive behavior. Physical aggression was also the most frequently mentioned type of moderate elder abuse, followed by neglect, economic…

The goal of the study was to determine the relative strength of four major explanations for the rise of elder abuse among a population in transition from traditional to modern culture. The study compared a sample of 120 abused elderly Arab Israelis with a control group of 120 nonabused older adults from the same background. The abuse status…

Reviews the meaning and uses of elder-abuse and child-abuse concepts and percepts in the reporting of events and research. Reports that the stereotypical nature of the concepts and the labeling of the victims has hampered the reporting of the maltreatment, thus impairing the accuracy of the research. (RJM)

Discusses various aspects of elder abuse: characteristics of victims, common forms of abuse, categories of abuse, victim-abuser relationship, characteristics of abusers, practical responses to the problem, and policy implications and research needs. (CT)