Domestic Elder Research Articles

Comparison of the Rates and Types of Domestic Elder Abuse and the Impact on Their Quality of Life in Dezful

Introduction: Elder abuse is a form of domestic violence and can endanger health and Quality of life of the elderly person and create painful conditions for him. Thus abuse has to be one of the factors threatening the survival and Quality of life of the elderly. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between domestic elder abuse and their Quality of life in Dezful. Methods: This descriptive analytical study is performed among the elderly residents in the city of Dezful in 2014. The study population in this study included, 420 men and women aged60 years and higher living in Dezful City and surrounding villages. The collected data was analyzed using spss V 20. To measure domestic elderly abuse, the standard domestic elderly abuse questionnaire was used and in order to measure Quality of life the standard health related quality of life questionnaire (SF-36) was used. Results: The results showed that the highest abuse in urban and rural areas related to emotional negligence with the average 24.14 and 30% and the lowest was associated with abandonment with the average 9.40 and 3.33% respectively. In terms of Quality of life the average score for overall quality of life in urban elderly was 62.95% and in rural elderly was 57.55%. Conclusions: According to this study there was domestic elderly abuse in urban and rural areas which could reduce Quality of life of the elderly in this city especially the rural area. This conclusion emphasizes the importance of paying attention to elderly abuse and quality of life of elderly people.

Development of an Assessment Tool for Domestic Elder Abuse: Creation of Items from a Literature Review

Background: With the “super-aging” of society, the prevalence of elder abuse can be expected to come under greater scrutiny. It will be important, therefore, to evaluate the presence and severity of elder abuse so as to prevent abuse and provide greater support for families. Aim: The aim of this study is to identify acts of elder abuse from a literature review in order to develop items for an assessment tool for domestic elder abuse. Methods: For the literature search, ICHUSHI Web, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and PubMed were utilized with the keywords “elder abuse” and “elderly abuse”. A search limited to original articles over the last five years containing descriptions of elder abuse was used in this study. In addition, through hand search, books and websites concerning elder abuse were also studied. Descriptions of the acts of elder abuse from the materials were extracted and categorized by content analysis based on seven subtypes of elder abuse (physical abuse, neglect, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, economical abuse, self-neglect, and social abuse). Results & Conclusions: The final analysis included 18 original articles, two books, and eight websites on elder abuse prevention. A total of 38 acts were extracted as items for the assessment tool, which can be used to evaluate the presence and severity of elder abuse. Further research will be needed to examine the validity and reliability of the assessment tool.

Multidisciplinary Team Legislative Language Associated With Elder Abuse Investigations

Professionals from different disciplines providing care and services to persons at risk for or victims of elder abuse have formed various multidisciplinary teams (MDTs). The purpose of the study was to identify the adult protective services–related statutory trends in presence of MDT content and to determine the association of MDT legislation on the rates of reported, investigated, and substantiated domestic elder abuse. Aggregate reports of elder abuse and state statutes for 1999 and 2007 were retrieved from 50 states and the District of Columbia. Statutes of eight states in 2000 and nine in 2008 included text about MDTs. In 2007, investigation rates for those states having MDT text in the statutes were significantly higher than those states without. The incidence of MDTs in the country is unknown. Legislative text is but one factor associated with differences in elder abuse report, investigation, or substantiation rates.

Substance Abuse Associated with Elder Abuse in the United States

Background: Substance abuse by either victim or perpetrator has long been associated with violence and abuse. Sparse research is available regarding elder abuse and its association with substance abuse. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of state-reported domestic elder abuse with regional levels of substance abuse. Methods: Census demographic and elder abuse data were sorted into substate regions to align with the substance use treatment-planning regions for 2269 US counties. From the 2269 US counties there were 229 substate regions in which there were 213,444 investigations of abuse. For the other Ns (reports and substantiations) there were fewer counties and regions. See first sentence of data analyses and first sentence of results. Results: Elder abuse report rates ranged from .03 to .41% (80 regions), investigation rates .001 to .34% (229 regions), and substantiation rates 0 to .22% (184 regions). Elder abuse investigations and substantiations were associated with various forms of substance abuse. Higher investigation rates were significantly associated with a higher rate of any illicit drug use in the past month, a lower median household income, lower proportion of the population graduated high school, and higher population of Hispanics. Higher substantiation rates were significantly associated with higher rate of illicit drug use in the past month and higher population of Hispanics. Conclusion: It may be worthwhile for administrators of violence programs to pay particular attention to substance abuse among their clients and in their community’s environment, especially if older persons are involved. Scientific Significance: Measures of documented elder abuse at the county level are minimal. To be able to associate substance abuse with elder abuse is a significant finding, realizing that the substance abuse can be by the victim or the perpetrator of elder abuse.

Neglect of Older Adults in Michigan Nursing Homes

Although research on domestic elder abuse and neglect has grown over the past 20 years, there is limited research on elder neglect in nursing homes. The purpose of this study is to estimate the incidence of elder neglect in nursing homes and identify the individual and contextual risks associated with elder neglect. Data came from a 2005 random digit dial survey of individuals in Michigan who had relatives in long term care. Our analytic sample included 414 family members who had a relative aged 65 or older in nursing homes. Results showed that about 21% of nursing home residents were neglected on one or more occasion in the last 12 months. Two nursing home residents' characteristics reported by family members appear to significantly increase the odds of neglect: functional impairments in activities of daily living and previous resident-to-resident victimization. Behavior problems also are associated with higher odds of neglect (p = 0.078). Policy implications of these results are discussed.

Opening Pandora’s Box: A Comprehensive Approach to Home Violence Prevention

The aim of this article is to describe a comprehensive approach to screening and intervening in home violence. Home care clinicians face a variety of potential abusive situations during the course of home visits. In the home, the victim may be the patient or the caregiver. The offender may be a related, paid, or professional caregiver or the patient. Abuse may be occurring between other persons in the home. A comprehensive home violence program embraces the horizon of abuse possibilities. The practical implications of merging domestic violence and elder abuse paradigms are discussed. Screening of both the patient and the caregiver is encouraged, and interventions are suggested for a number of situations.

Degree and types of domestic abuse in the elderly referring to

Background Aging has always been concerned throughout history. The second half of the 20 th century has been referred as population graying due to increased number of elderly people. Of related familial and social outcomes is the upsurge of antisocial behaviors and violence. Domestic elder mistreatment or abuse as a major health problem is a type of familial violence with a significantly increasing incidence in the last 2 decades. Since there is no specific organization to be responsible for this problem in developing countries like Iran, no information or evidence is available and limited studies are only limited to developed countries. Purpose This descriptive study was conducted to determine the degree and types of domestic abuse in the elderly referring to parks of Tehran. Methods 400 elders 60 years and over including men and women from all parts of Tehran took part in the study. A questionnaire in 3 parts including demographics, types of abuse and open questions was used for data collection. The tool was validated by face and content methods and made reliable by internal consistency as well as test-retest methods. The questionnaire was completed by the researcher through interviewing the subjects. Results Findings showed that 28% of the elderly was between 70 and 74, 38.2% had secondary education, 65.1% was married and 32.9% lived with their spouses. 87.8% of them experienced at least 1 type of abuse, 12.2% no abuse and 24.9% all 4 types of abuse. 84.8% experienced emotional abuse; 68.3%, neglect; 40.1%, financial exploitation; and 35.2%, physical abuse. A positive correlation was found between age and abuse. In contrast, no relationship was found between abuse and sex, educational level, marital status, living condition as well as geographic area. Conclusion It can be concluded that domestic abuse is a widespread social problem which requires urgent, continuous and fundamental interventions. Clarification of the issue from different aspects, identification of predisposing and preventive factors and recognition of at-risk elderly are of high priorities in this regard. Keywords: Elderly, Domestic abuse, Parks.

Varying Perspectives on the Treatment of Domestic Violence in New Zealand

Women's refuges have existed in New Zealand since 1973 and today over two hundred various community and national level organizations work with victims and perpetrators of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, and child endangerment. New Zealand service providers and government officials view their work in the area of violence against women as part of an international effort with an obligation to uphold the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, or CEDAW as it is widely known, a treaty ratified by the country in 1985. While there is considerable governmental and nongovernmental support for those whose lives are touched by violence, there is also considerable tension over how to best design and deliver the services to those who need them. New Zealand is a diverse nation with a large indigenous population and growing Pasifika and Asian communities. Many of the recent debates center on how to best design programs for a multicultural population while still privileging the rights of the indigenous Maori. New Zealand's experience in addressing violence against women illustrates the disjunction between transnational discourses of violence against women, and the proposed international solutions to the problem, and the local efforts to help survivors from diverse cultural backgrounds. First, I will provide a brief description of how services are designed and delivered in New Zealand. Second, I will outline the main philosophical disagreements found among social service providers. Third, I discuss why research on the front-line has the potential to tell us a great deal about the limits of international treaties and enhance our response to violence against women.

Occurrence of domestic elder abuse

This study aimed to verify the occurrence of domestic abuse against male and female elderly people in 2006, using medical examination reports, and to identify aggressors and injuries caused, in accordance with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD - 10). The sample consisted of 87 male and female elderly persons aged 60 or more, who lived in Ribeirão Preto-SP, Brazil, filed a complaint at a Police Station in 2002. Medical legal exam reports were consulted. The data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics. Domestic abuse occurred more frequently among men (58.6%) who were attacked by family members, such as children, grandchildren, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law (47.1%). With respect to the kinds of injuries, 33.5% manifested unspecified superficial shoulder and arm trauma. Elder abuse is becoming increasingly clear in society, thus acquiring social and public health dimensions.

Cruelty to Animals and Violence to People

The topic of animal cruelty has been largely neglected by criminological researchers. However, studies suggest that children who are cruel to animals disproportionally tend to be violent to people later in life. Case histories of serial killers and mass murderers suggest that many were cruel to animals in their childhood. Furthermore, it is argued that cruelty to animals in a family tends to be associated with domestic violence, child abuse, and elder abuse. Unfortunately, much of the previous research was based on small, unrepresentative samples, with poor or no control samples and retrospective information. Prospective longitudinal surveys of large representative samples are needed. Family based prevention programs might be effective in reducing cruelty to animals, but experimental evaluations of such programs are required. The time is ripe for a major research program to advance knowledge about the causes and prevention of animal cruelty and its implications for criminology.

Taking Care of Old and Frail Parents

Experts, who study the causes of domestic elder abuse, point out that many American families simply cannot bear the stress of taking care of the elderly. Driven by life's celerity, each member of the family pursues his or her own self-development and sees parental care as a drain on time and resources.

APS Workers Job Requirements Associated with Elder Abuse Rates

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relationship of required educational background of APS workers to the 1999 rates of domestic elder abuse. Data were obtained from APS related statutes and regulations and questions to the National Center for Elder Abuse list serve. Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-tests were used for analyses. Those states whose legislations required a social work degree for APS caseworkers did have higher elder abuse investigation rates. A lower substantiation ratio was found for those states requiring a social work degree or license. These findings suggest that social work education may lead to an emphasis on investigation and interventions and de-emphasis on the criminal aspects of elder abuse evaluation substantiations.

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN STATUTORY PENALTIES AND DOMESTIC ELDER ABUSE INVESTIGATIONS

ABSTRACT Adult Protective Services statutes designate penalties for those who inflict abuse on elders. These penalties are either civil or criminal, with criminal penalties delineated as misdemeanors or felonies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship of criminal penalties for the infliction of abuse on the rates of reported, investigated, and substantiated domestic elder abuse for all states. The District of Columbia and forty-three states’ APS-related statutes make elder abuse crimes felonies while thirty provide misdemeanors for some or all aspects of elder abuse. After taking into account demographic factors that influence investigation rates, states were found to have higher investigation rates if their statute made abuse a felony, had longer prison terms, tracked reports of abuse allegations, required reporting by professionals, and had more words in the definitions of abuse. After taking into account demographic factors that influence substantiation rates, states were found to have higher rates if the statute made abuse a felony, tracked reports of abuse allegations, and had more words in the definitions of abuse. States recognizing the seriousness of elder abuse by listing harsher penalties may convey this commitment to investigators, who are therefore more likely to investigate and substantiate abuse allegations.

Initial conclusions on the design and validation of the ‘Inadequate Treatment Detection Scale’ for elders

The pilot study described here is part of a domestic elder abuse detection project developed by a social services team in Madrid. The project's fundamental objective is to validate a scale for detecting domestic abuse and self‐neglect that can be used by social workers. A pilot study with a sample of 34 elders was conducted to determine the detection scale's response format and contents.

Older Adults as Crime Victims, Perpetrators, Witnesses, and Complainants: A Population-Based Study of Police Interactions

ABSTRACTBackground: Little is known about the nature of community police interactions with older adults. This is a major gap in our knowledge as police are potential “first responders” to a variety of emergent criminal, legal, social, and medical problems faced by this population, yet previous studies have focused primarily on domestic elder abuse.Specific Aims: To estimate the prevalence of police department contact in an observational cohort of community dwelling older people and to determine the role of the older person in such contact. Secondary aims were to determine the distribution of crime types experienced by cohort members and to identify factors at cohort inception that were associated with police contact.Subjects: Members of the New Haven EPESE cohort (Established Population for Epidemiologic Studies in the Elderly) who were alive in 1985 (n = 2,321), an observational cohort of community-dwelling older adults who had regular standardized evaluations of medical, functional, and psychosocial health.Type of Study: Observational CohortMethods: Police records in same catchment area of the cohort were searched to determine if cohort members had any interaction with police over the follow-up period 1985–1995; those cohort members who had such interactions had detailed abstraction of police records to determine the nature of the event(s) which were then linked to cohort records so that health and criminal justice records could be analyzed concordantly.Results: The sampling adjusted prevalence of police contact was 29% over an eleven year follow-up period with 684 members of the 2,321 subject cohort experiencing a total of 1,651 separate contacts. The most common context in which cohort members interacted with police was solely as a victim of an alleged crime (57.5 of subjects, sampling adjusted, 62.1% of contacts), but subjects also had substantial interactions with police as complainants, witnesses, and perpetrators of crime. Violent crimes accounted for 21% of the contacts in which subjects were victims. Three factors at cohort inception were independently associated with victimization status over the follow-up period in multivariable analysis: being ADL dependent (OR .42,95% CI .22–.80), being African American (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.01–2.18), and being a younger cohort member (OR for age .94 per year, 95% CI .91–1.02). Gender was not significantly associated with victimization.Conclusions: Older adults have substantial interaction with community police in a variety of contexts, but primarily as victims of crime. ADL impairment and older age actually conferred a decreased risk of victimization in this study, defying the stereotype of victimized elders as the frail “oldest old.” However, the extremely high prevalence of police interaction with older adults suggests that health and criminal justice policy makers need to consider this population in law enforcement manpower planning and training.

APS Investigative Systems Associated with County Reported Domestic Elder Abuse

ABSTRACTObjectives: To evaluate the association between state-defined elder abuse investigation systems and rates of reported, investigated and substantiated domestic elder abuse.Methods: A mailed survey was administered to 1,763 adult protective service (APS) office investigators in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Information about investigative structures and investigations was obtained from 1,409 of the APS investigators, an 80% return rate. County/district domestic elder abuse report, investigation, and substantiation numbers for each state for 1999 was obtained for APS state administrators.Results: Elder abuse reports to APS offices ranged from 0 to 191.7 per 1,000 elder population. Investigation and substantiation rates ranged from 0 to a high of 150.0 and 116.7, respectively. Investigation rates were higher in counties having investigators only evaluating elder abuse cases, having a social work educational background and feeling that the elders were usually better off after investigation. Longer length of training programs for investigators was associated with high substantiation rates.Discussion: Differences in investigative structures do impact the rates of identified elder abuse. Elder abuse should be examined at the county level to distinguish both state and county/district differences in reported, investigated, and substantiated elder abuse.

The Public Choice of Elder Abuse Law

This interdisciplinary study finds that the way laws are written and treated by state regulators measurably affects bureaucratic performance: the care taken by legislatures and state agencies in developing domestic elder abuse law affects how lower‐level bureaucrats investigate and reporte abuse. Perhaps more interesting, however, are two robust findings about state law making. Both legislator characteristics (here, being middle‐aged or slightly older) and lobbying by seemingly the most important interest group (here, the American Association of Retired Persons [AARP]) sometimes have an unexpected effect. We surmise that these legislators and lobbyists find other issues both more politically attractive and more pressing since elder abuse is almost exclusively confined to the very old and helpless. However, the presence of state AARP lobbyists does predict more concern for the elderly at the administrative level. The difference between legislative and regulatory lobbying may thus reflect the differing public scrutiny given to the two.

Domestic elder abuse and the law.

The authors evaluated the impact of state adult protective service legislation on rates of investigated and substantiated domestic elder abuse. Data were collected on all domestic elder abuse reports, investigations, and substantiations for each US state and the District of Columbia for 1999. State statutes and regulations pertaining to adult protective services were reviewed. There were 190 005 domestic elder abuse reports from 17 states, a rate of 8.6 per 1000 elders; 242 430 domestic elder abuse investigations from 47 states, a rate of 5.9; and 102 879 substantiations from 35 states, a rate of 2.7. Significantly higher investigation rates were found for states requiring mandatory reporting and tracking of numbers of reports. Domestic elder abuse documentation among states shows substantial differences related to specific aspects of state laws.

Older Women, Domestic Violence, and Elder Abuse: A Review of Commonalities, Differences, and Shared Approaches

SUMMARY Elder abuse and neglect have increasingly become issues of concern. Older women are the majority of older people who experience abuse, yet there have been few attempts to adequately consider this. Consideration of the potential links between domestic violence and elder abuse is appropriate. This article provides an overview of knowledge about elder abuse and neglect and then moves to examine factors from domestic violence. An exploration, through review, of the similarities and differences between these approaches will assist in determining relative strengths and weaknesses. This will then contribute towards greater understanding of the linked phenomena of elder abuse and neglect and assist towards both protection and prevention of abuse.

Mandatory Reporting: Relationship of APS Statute Language on State Reported Elder Abuse

ABSTRACT Forty-four states and the District of Columbia have laws providing that individuals who assume the care or custody of the elderly are considered mandatory reporters and must report suspected abuse. A mandatory reporter is a person required by law to report allegations and/or suspicions of abuse. Thirty-eight state statutes specify a penalty for mandatory reporters who do not report when they should. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship of state adult protective service wording of mandatory reporting on the rates of reported, investigated and substantiated domestic elder abuse. Higher investigation rates were associated with a mandatory reporting requirement. Description of mandatory reporter, penalty for failure to report abuse allegations, and time to report an abuse allegation did not result in a significant difference in report, investigation, and substantiation rates. Legislation is associated with aspects of adult protective service practice. The requirement that mandatory reporters report an abuse allegation is an important component of adult protective services legislation.