Elder Abuse Prevention and Intervention Strategies
Summary
Elder abuse prevention and intervention encompass a spectrum of approaches aimed at safeguarding older adults from physical, psychological, sexual and financial harm as well as neglect. Primary prevention focuses on raising public awareness, strengthening legal frameworks and fostering social inclusion through community programmes and educational campaigns. Secondary prevention involves routine screening and risk assessment in health-care and social-service settings to identify vulnerable individuals early and to deploy targeted support such as caregiver training or respite services. Tertiary interventions engage multidisciplinary teams—including social workers, legal advocates and mental-health professionals—to respond to confirmed cases, ensure safety planning, provide therapeutic counselling and pursue legal remedies. Recent advances emphasise the integration of digital tools for remote monitoring, the empowerment of older people through peer-support networks and the adoption of culturally sensitive models that address diverse family structures and caregiving norms. Globally, collaborations among government agencies, non-governmental organisations and academic institutions have promoted the development of evidence-based protocols and standardised outcome measures, underlining the importance of rigorous evaluation to guide policy and practice across income settings.
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Elder Abuse Prevention and Intervention Strategies publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in elder abuse prevention and intervention strategies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Psychometric properties: Characteristics that establish the reliability, validity and responsiveness of instruments used to measure elder abuse and intervention outcomes.
Randomised controlled trial (RCT): A study design in which participants are randomly assigned to intervention or control groups to assess the causal impact of a prevention or treatment programme.
Caregiver burden: The multidimensional strain—emotional, physical and financial—experienced by those providing ongoing care to older adults, which can be a risk factor for abusive behaviour.
References
- Intervention accelerator to prevent and respond to abuse of older people: insights from key promising interventions. The Lancet Healthy Longevity (2024).
- Psychometric properties of instruments for measuring abuse of older people in community and institutional settings: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews (2024).
- Elder abuse and neglect: an overlooked patient safety issue. A focus group study of nursing home leaders’ perceptions of elder abuse and neglect. BMC Health Services Research (2020).
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