From suspicion to intervention: improving responsiveness to abuse of the elderly in acute and sub-acute healthcare

Abstract

Background: Elder abuse is a recognised form of family violence. It is an act of harm towards an older person by someone known to them - usually within their family network or trusted social environment. Because of the private nature of elder abuse, it remains a hidden problem. Hospitalisation has been identified as offering a “window of opportunity” (Joubert & Posenelli, 2009) to support older people at risk of abuse however very few health professionals have received any training alerting them to issues of elder abuse (Dow et al., 2013). For this reason, health professionals need to be equipped with the required knowledge to be both confident and competent in supporting older people at ris..