Since the late 1970s when Congressman Claude Pepper held widely publicized hearings on the mistreatment of the elderly, policy makers and practitioners have sought ways to protect older Americans from physical, psychological, and financial abuse. Yet, during the last 20 years fewer than 50 articles have addressed the shameful problem that abusersâ€"and sometimes the abused themselvesâ€"want to conceal. Elder Mistreatment in an Aging America takes a giant step toward broadening our understanding of the mistreatment of the elderly and recommends specific research and funding strategies that can be used to deepen it. The book includes a discussion of the conceptual, methodological, and logistical issues needed to create a solid research base as well as the ethical concerns that must be considered when working with older subjects. It also looks at problems in determination of a report's reliability and the role of physicians, EMTs, and others who are among the first to recognize situations of mistreatment. Elder Mistreatment in an Aging America will be of interest to anyone concerned about the elderly and ways to intervene when abuse is suspected, including family members, caregivers, and advocates for the elderly. It will also be of interest to researchers, research sponsors, and policy makers who need to know how to advance our knowledge of this problem.

This book provides a global comprehensive and systematic state-of-the review of this field that fills the gaps between research, practice, and policy. The book addresses the epidemiology of the issue and the global prevalence of elder abuse in both developed and developing countries, which synthesizes the most up-to-date data about risk factors and protective factors associated with elder abuse and consequences of elder abuse; clinical assessment and management of elder abuse, including screening, detection, management of elder abuse, and the role of decision making capacity and forensic approaches; practice and services that describe adult protective services, legal justice, elder court systems, and guardianship system; elder abuse and culture, which provides more in-depth anthropological and ethnographic experiences; policy issues, which highlights the elder justice movement, GAO reports, elder justice act, older American act and elder justice coordinating council; and future directions, which explores translational research, practice, education/training and policy issues surrounding elder abuse. Elder Abuse: Research, Practice and Policy is a useful resource for aging researchers, social services, general internists, family medicine physicians, social workers, nurses, and legal professionals interested in the issues of elder abuse.

In this guidebook, authors from various disciplines distinguish conflicts in ethical issues among elder abuse victims, precipitators, and professional care providers and propose ways to address these differences. Elder Mistreatment: Ethical Issues, Dilemmas, and Decisions identifies key differences and similarities in professional ethical protocols and shows how differences may be addressed to achieve consensus in ethical decisionmaking. For some time now, helping professionals involved with cases of elder abuse have recognized the need to begin a dialogue on applying ethical principles to practice. The subject of ethics, while always a part of services, has been difficult to articulate in practice because its roots come from principles of belief rather than objective, absolute criteria. For this reason, professionals have erred on the side of practice methods rather than the deeper issues of values protocols for clients and professionals. Elder Mistreatment raises the question of how to identify ethical values and their starting points among all parties in the elder abuse situation, determine whether dilemmas may arise with competing values, and initiate moves toward consensus. Professionals from the fields of medicine, social work, law, religion, and ethics review three cases of mistreatment, identify the ethical values, issues, and dilemmas as they relate to both the client/patient and their particular profession. In this way, the reader can compare the similarities and differences among professional starting points. The final chapter in this book, written by a medical ethicist, describes how members from different professions working as a multidisciplinary team might be able to integrate differing perceptions of the dilemmas into greater consensus in the process of ethical decisionmaking in cases of elder mistreatment. Throughout the case studies and chapters, these topics are covered in depth: communicative ethics autonomy beneficence non-maleficence justice community-based multidisciplinary care legal competence clinical competence Readers at all levels in the following fields will benefit from this guidebook: social workers, physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, psychologists, therapists, psychiatrists, clergy, lawyers, paralegals, and ethicists.

Elder Abuse: Forensic, Legal and Medical Aspects focuses on the psychological, financial and physical abuse and neglect that is widespread in elder abuse across socioeconomic levels. It provides expert information on forensic and legal topics that professionals need to understand to confront these crimes. The topics included are those most important in the detection and prosecution of elder abuse. Identification and epidemiology are discussed, as are types and presentations of abuse. Written at a level for both professionals and students who wish to gain a broader understanding of specific forensic topics in elder maltreatment, this book is an ideal source. Covers the physical, sexual, financial and psychological types of elder abuse Includes a section on domestic violence in the elderly, as well as wound identification Provides a multidisciplinary approach that is emphasized with special sections on death investigation, evidence collection, the medical examiner’s responsibilities, and the response of the justice system

Since the late 1970s when Congressman Claude Pepper held widely publicized hearings on the mistreatment of the elderly, policy makers and practitioners have sought ways to protect older Americans from physical, psychological, and financial abuse. Yet, during the last 20 years fewer than 50 articles have addressed the shameful problem that abusersâ€"and sometimes the abused themselvesâ€"want to conceal. Elder Mistreatment in an Aging America takes a giant step toward broadening our understanding of the mistreatment of the elderly and recommends specific research and funding strategies that can be used to deepen it. The book includes a discussion of the conceptual, methodological, and logistical issues needed to create a solid research base as well as the ethical concerns that must be considered when working with older subjects. It also looks at problems in determination of a report's reliability and the role of physicians, EMTs, and others who are among the first to recognize situations of mistreatment. Elder Mistreatment in an Aging America will be of interest to anyone concerned about the elderly and ways to intervene when abuse is suspected, including family members, caregivers, and advocates for the elderly. It will also be of interest to researchers, research sponsors, and policy makers who need to know how to advance our knowledge of this problem.

This first-of-its-kind work on elder abuse and mistreatment provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the subject. Covering almost all regions of the world, it highlights different dimensions of elder abuse and mistreatment in terms of their prevalence, incidence, prevention, treatment, management and response from governments and civil society, academic and research communities, and society in general. Written by international specialists from various disciplinary and presenting the latest findings and data, the handbook includes sections on the Americas; the Caribbean; Europe; Central, West and South Asia; East Asia and Asia-Pacific; and Africa. The chapters offer clarity on the concept and forms of elder abuse and neglect, discuss research methodology, and provide policy options, legislative solutions and programmatic responses to give relief to older people as victims of abuse and neglect as well as to deal with the perpetrators. This book is intended for a wide range of students and researchers interested in aging, from sociology, to social work, community medicine, public health, clinical psychology, and human rights/law.

Provide the most effective service possible to help victims of this growing social problem Elder Abuse and Mistreatment is a comprehensive overview of current policy issues, new practice models, and up-to-date research on elder abuse and neglect. Experts in the field provide insight into elder abuse with newly examined populations to create an understanding of how to design service plans for victims of abuse and family mistreatment. The book addresses all forms of abuse and neglect, examining the value issues and ethical dilemmas that social workers face in providing service to elderly abuse victims and their families. Elder abuse and neglect is a social problem of increasing concern to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in the United States and around the world. Elder Abuse and Mistreatment incorporates health, mental health, and social service perspectives that assist social work and health care professionals with interdisciplinary teamwork. The book examines the Elder Justice Act, the Madrid 2002 International Plan of Action on Ageing, new and emerging practice modalities and international models such as shelter programs and support groups, and the latest research on practice methods, elder abuse with special populations, and interventions with victim-abuse dyads. Topics examined in Elder Abuse and Mistreatment include: abuse reporting statutes the roles of agencies involved in abuse investigations service commonly needed by victims funding sources common impediments to service delivery adult protective services (APS) local, state, and federal policies social and economic inclusion self-determination long-term care and nursing homes consumer fraud and financial abuse dependency and compliance and much more Elder Abuse and Mistreatment: Policy, Practice, and Research is an essential resource for educators and students of social work, nursing, and public health, and for social work practitioners.