The Human Right to Leisure in Old Age: Reinforcement of the Rights of an Aging Population

The right to leisure is recognized as a human right under the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The actual meaning and material content of this human right is subject to debate. The aim of this study is to examine the extent and the context to which this human right is specifically recognized with regard to older persons. Methodologically, this study textually analyzed 17 different international older persons’ human rights documents. The findings reveal that in the majority of these documents there is no reference to the right to leisure. In the remaining documents, the right to leisure is mostly referred to indirectly or in a narrow legal construction. These findings support the notion that despite the growing body of knowledge regarding the importance of meaningful leisure in old age—and its empowering and anti-ageist nature—this knowledge has not transformed into a legal human rights discourse.     

Poly-victimization and resilience portfolios: Trends in violence research that can enhance the understanding and prevention of elder abuse

ABSTRACT

This literature review assesses the current state of knowledge about elder abuse and mistreatment, focusing on the lack of incorporation of all forms of elder victimization and the benefits of a poly-victimization framework. This review also includes existing knowledge on risk factors and calls for a greater focus on protective factors and a greater inclusion on family and community factors. Future research, prevention, and intervention would benefit from considering the true burden of elder victimization and a greater implementation of strengths-based approaches to programs.     

Development of the Emergency Department Senior Abuse Identification (ED Senior AID) tool

Emergency departments (EDs) are an important health care setting for the identification of elder abuse (EA). Our objective was to develop an ED-based tool to identify EA. The initial tool included a brief cognitive assessment, questions to detect multiple domains of EA, and a physical examination. Refinement of the tool was based on input from clinical experts and nurse and patient feedback. The revised tool, which included 15 questions about EA, was then tested in an academic ED. We calculated the inter-rater reliability, sensitivity, and specificity of individual EA questions. Among ED patients age≥65 (N = 259), 17 (7%) screened positive for suspicion of EA. We identified a combination of six questions that cover the included domains of EA, demonstrated good or excellent inter-rater reliability, and had a sensitivity and specificity of 94% (95% confidence interval (CI) 71–100%) and 90% (95% CI 85–93%), respectively. These results inform a proposed screening tool for multisite validation testing.     

Elderly Prisoners: A Growing and Forgotten Group Within Correctional Systems Vulnerable to Elder Abuse

ABSTRACT

There are over 2.1 million people incarcerated in the nation's jails and prisons. Additionally, close to 600,000 prisoners are released annually into communities across the country. Many prisoners and those released from prisons are elderly. The purpose of this article is to examine the systemic abuse and neglect experienced by elderly prisoners while they are incarcerated and when they are released from prison. Most correctional systems have inadequate resources, processes, and personnel to manage the elderly population inside and outside of prisons. In addition to providing a definition of “elderly prisoner,” two specific problems–prison health care and prisoner re-entry–are examined in the article. The article concludes with recommendations for both policy and research on how best we can further understand and address the multiple needs and concerns faced by elderly prisoners.     

Community-Based Long Term Care

Through the Living at Home Program (LAHP) 20 communities across the United States have developed cooperative networks involving multiple health and social services providers. The LAHP networks have sought to increase access to care, reduce duplication of services, and identify and fill service gaps. The LAHP national evaluation is examining the inter-organizational linkages that have been implemented by the networks and the characteristics of 1500 clients enrolled for care. Preliminary findings at the midpoint of the evaluation indicate that the networks have moved from a reliance on informal communication and coordination mechanisms at baseline to the use of more formal structural mechanisms over time. Despite the lack of formal targeting criteria, the networks have enrolled a quite frail elderly population. Future analyses will examine variability across the networks in client targeting and service utilization, In order to shed light on the need for utilization review of community based long term care.     

Financial Abuse of Elders and Dependent Adults: The FAST (Financial Abuse Specialist Team) Approach

ABSTRACT

The Financial Abuse Specialist Team, a partnership of professionals from diverse disciplines, volunteer their time to review cases of financial elder abuse and facilitate comprehensive service delivery. The team also advocates for legislative reform, educates the community about the problem, and trains professionals in how to recognize, prevent, and resolve financial elder abuse.     

Taking a Leap Forward: Adult Protective Services and the Elder Justice Act

ABSTRACT

The author outlines factors in the current environment for Adult Protective Services programs in the United States of America in the spring of 2003 and the significance of the Elder Justice Act to those programs. The commentary notes key strengths and challenges in the bill and warns against relying on legislation alone to address the root causes of elder abuse.     

研究性学习对职业社工专业能力培养的作用初探——以“老年研究小组”为例

研究性学习是一种重实践能力和创新能力培养，具开放性、探究式教学互动模式，对研究性大学及创新人才培养有重要意义。基于研究性学习与社工教育实务特质的高度契合性，本文以“老年社工”课为平台，以“老年研究小组”为切人点，以研究性学习为途径，总结了为期五年“以问题为导向，教、研、实务三结合”的教改对职业社工素质培养的效果，并就本土社工教育的学科发展提出了建议。     

Prevalence and correlates of elder mistreatment in Singapore

The current study attempts to identify the prevalence rate of and risk factors associated with elder mistreatment in Singapore, a multi-ethnic nation in South-East Asia. Information on elder mistreatment was collected from 400 non-randomly selected cognitively intact older adults in a residential area of Singapore. Items on mistreatment were adopted from the Hwalek-Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test and the Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale. Standardized scales on activities of daily living, loneliness, and items on violence between family members were administered. The prevalence rate of mistreatment was 8.3%. A family environment characterized by psychological and physical abuse between family members and a social environment characterized by loneliness increased the vulnerability of older adults to mistreatment. Older adults who were mistreated reported more depression symptoms than those who were not.     

Searching for Elder Abuse: A Systematic Review of Database Citations

ABSTRACT

The aim of this review was to describe trends and patterns in elder abuse literature and research. All citations in PUB MED, CINAHL, and PsycINFO databases located using the search term “elder abuse” were retrieved (3,059 citations) and 2,418 unique references were identified. Using manifest content analysis, non-research material (1,986 references) was sorted by type and research references (34 dissertations and 398 research articles) were categorized. Research article references most commonly: (1) investigated prevalence, typology, and definitions of elder abuse; (2) utilized quantitative methodology; (3) had first author affiliations to medicine, nursing, and social sciences; and (4) sampled populations of professionals, personnel, cases, or charts. The USA was most frequently listed of 24 identified countries of origin. Elder abuse research shows lack of diversity, slow increase of qualitative research, limited involvement of older persons and family members as participants, and minimal research from developing countries. This review contributes to knowledge valuable for researchers and experts planning future studies or elder abuse projects.