INITIAL EXPERIENCE OF THE FIRST HELPLINE DEVOTED TO SUPPORTING CONCERNED PERSONS IN THE LIVES OF ELDER ABUSE VICTIMS

Abstract

Abstract Elder abuse is common and can deeply impact older adults who experience it. Little is known, however, about another group that may be profoundly affected: non-abusing family members, friends, and neighbors, referred to as “concerned persons”. We describe the initial experience of the first telephone helpline in the U.S. devoted to supporting these concerned persons. The New York City Elder Abuse Center developed a Concerned Persons Helpline to assist concerned persons and alleged victims in New York State. Using this frontline call data, we examined characteristics of concerned persons, circumstances surrounding alleged abuse, and interventions offered. Overall, the helpline received 864 total calls (16.6 calls per week) over a one-year period between 10/1/20 to 9/31/21. An initial subset of 149 logged calls were used for this exploratory analysis. Concerned persons most commonly reported that an older adult in their life was suffering from financial exploitation (28.9% of all callers), followed by caregiver neglect (26.2%), with 42.2% reporting poly-victimization. Relationship of callers to alleged victims was most commonly non-abusing adult child (37.6%), followed by other relatives (13.4%), friends (12.8%), and neighbors (10.0%). An adult child was also the most commonly reported perpetrator (36.9%). A large proportion of alleged victims suffered from cognitive impairment and/or physical disabilities (55.7%). Intervention provided included referrals to social services, civil and legal services, victim assistance programs, and caregiver counseling programs. Developing resources to support concerned persons should continue to be a research and practice priority in elder abuse.