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SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT OF ELDER ABUSE: AN...
Journal article

SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT OF ELDER ABUSE: AN EVALUATION OF NICE TOOLS

Abstract

Elder abuse (EA) has various dimensions, including physical, sexual and psychological abuse, which make screening and assessment challenging. As part of a larger project, the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly (NICE) developed evidence-based tools to address these challenges. However, as no formal evaluation of these instruments has been conducted, the current study examines and evaluates the impact of NICE EA tools. Participants with NICE membership were randomly sampled (n = 438: 79.7% practitioners; 7.5% students; 4.5% older adults/informal caregivers; and 8.2% other) and asked to complete a telephone survey to assess the instrumental impact (use of tools), conceptual impact (impact of knowledge in tools), and symbolic impact (whether the tools confirmed actions/decisions) of the tools. Of 438 participants, 74 reported using EA tools the most, with 46% of these users indicating that the tools had an instrumental impact (i.e., information in the EA tool changed their daily work practices and/or they adopted ideas/actions from the tool). Additionally, 31% indicated that the tools had a conceptual impact, as the tools increased their knowledge of EA and influenced their work practices. Finally, 45% reported the EA tools confirmed their actions at work and helped justify their decisions to co-workers and clients. These results suggest that NICE EA pocket tools have a conceptual, instrumental, and symbolic impact on improving knowledge and practices related to EA among multiple stakeholders. Screening tools, such as the ones developed by NICE, may help raise awareness to the possibility of elder abuse.

Authors

McDonald L; Hussain A; Mirza RM; Relyea E; Beaulieu M; Gutman GM; Klinger C; MacDonald B

Journal

Innovation in Aging, Vol. 1, No. suppl_1, pp. 364–364

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Publication Date

July 1, 2017

DOI

10.1093/geroni/igx004.1327

ISSN

2399-5300

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