The effectiveness of educational intervention in improving healthcare professionals' knowledge and recognition towards elder abuse: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Abstract

This systematic review summarises and assesses the evidence for educational interventions that increase the knowledge and recognition of elder abuse. Frontline health workers lack sufficient protocols or experience to identify, handle, and report elder abuse. Developing new curricula guided by the literature continues to be a challenge. Interpretation of the educational programmes described in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of elder abuse interventions can provide guidance when planning new programmes to increase knowledge and improve case-finding and cooperation. A detailed literature search was performed using five electronic databases related to healthcare: PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and MEDLINE. Only RCTs examining the effectiveness of educational interventions in preventing or reducing elder abuse were included. Framework analysis was used to integrate data from the retrieved documents. Forty-seven papers were read in full, and five were included in the review. Synthesis of the results from these studies resulted in five main themes: 1) Knowledge improvement; 2) Ability to identify; 3) Meta-analysis of recognition; 4) Characteristics of programmes; and 5) Outcome measurement. Increases in the immediate and longer-term outcomes of all interventions in the included studies were also determined. This review provides healthcare practitioners and older adult service providers with insights into educational intervention programmes that can be used for the development of elder abuse training modules.