Screening for Elder Abuse in Healthcare Settings
Screening for Elder Abuse in Healthcare Settings
Healthcare professionals are well situated to screen for elder abuse and detect vulnerabilities. Assessing functional, cognitive, and psychosocial well-being is important to understanding vulnerability associated with elder abuse. A risk prediction index was constructed that suggested that older adults with three or four vulnerability factors have a risk of elder abuse that is almost four times as great, and those with five or more vulnerability factors have a risk of elder abuse that is more than 26 times as great as those with two or fewer vulnerability factors.
Because elder abuse victims often interact with health systems, greater screening and treatment could improve quality of care. Primary care outpatient practices, inpatient hospitalization episodes, discharge planners, and home healthcare givers could play pivotal roles in identifying potentially unsafe situations that could jeopardize the safety and well-being of older adults. Because elder abuse victims disproportionally interact with the emergency department, hospital system, and nursing homes, the brief screening measures above should be incorporated as part of the psychosocial and home safety assessment by physicians, nurses, therapists, and discharge planners. Early detection and interventions, such as leveraging effective treatment of underlying problems, providing community-based and individuals-centered services, and appropriately involving family, may help ameliorate or stop elder abuse (Figure 1).
(Enlarge Image)
Figure 1.
Healthcare professional management strategies for elder abuse. APS = Adult Protective Services. (Adapted from JAGS: 2015: Pending Press by Dong XQ).
Implications for Healthcare Professionals
Healthcare professionals are well situated to screen for elder abuse and detect vulnerabilities. Assessing functional, cognitive, and psychosocial well-being is important to understanding vulnerability associated with elder abuse. A risk prediction index was constructed that suggested that older adults with three or four vulnerability factors have a risk of elder abuse that is almost four times as great, and those with five or more vulnerability factors have a risk of elder abuse that is more than 26 times as great as those with two or fewer vulnerability factors.
Because elder abuse victims often interact with health systems, greater screening and treatment could improve quality of care. Primary care outpatient practices, inpatient hospitalization episodes, discharge planners, and home healthcare givers could play pivotal roles in identifying potentially unsafe situations that could jeopardize the safety and well-being of older adults. Because elder abuse victims disproportionally interact with the emergency department, hospital system, and nursing homes, the brief screening measures above should be incorporated as part of the psychosocial and home safety assessment by physicians, nurses, therapists, and discharge planners. Early detection and interventions, such as leveraging effective treatment of underlying problems, providing community-based and individuals-centered services, and appropriately involving family, may help ameliorate or stop elder abuse (Figure 1).
(Enlarge Image)
Figure 1.
Healthcare professional management strategies for elder abuse. APS = Adult Protective Services. (Adapted from JAGS: 2015: Pending Press by Dong XQ).
