Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Apr;55(2):320-7.
doi: 10.1093/geront/gnu180. Epub 2015 Feb 18.

Elder mistreatment: priorities for consideration by the white house conference on aging

Karl Pillemer  1 , Marie-Therese Connolly  2 , Risa Breckman  3 , Nathan Spreng  4 , Mark S Lachs  3
Affiliations
Review

Elder mistreatment: priorities for consideration by the white house conference on aging

Karl Pillemer et al. Gerontologist. 2015 Apr.

Abstract

Elder mistreatment is recognized internationally as a prevalent and growing problem, meriting the attention of policymakers, practitioners, and the general public. Studies have demonstrated that elder mistreatment is sufficiently widespread to be a major public health concern and that it leads to a range of negative physical, psychological, and financial outcomes. This article provides an overview of key issues related to the prevention and treatment of elder mistreatment, focusing on initiatives that can be addressed by the White House Conference on Aging. We review research on the extent of mistreatment and its consequences. We then propose 3 challenges in preventing and treating elder mistreatment that relate to improving research knowledge, creating a comprehensive service system, and developing effective policy. Under each challenge, examples are provided of promising initiatives that can be taken to eliminate mistreatment. To inform the recommendations, we employed recent data from the Elder Justice Roadmap Project, in which 750 stakeholders in the field of elder mistreatment were surveyed regarding research and policy priorities.

Keywords: Abuse/neglect; Crime; Organizational and Institutional issues; Public Policy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Acierno R., Hernandez M. A., Amstadter A. B., Resnick H. S., Steve K., Muzzy W., Kilpatrick D. G. (2010). Prevalence and correlates of emotional, physical, sexual, and financial abuse and potential neglect in the United States: the National Elder Mistreatment Study. American Journal of Public Health, 100, 292–297. 10.2105/AJPH.2009.163089 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blowers A. N., Davis B., Shenk D., Kalaw K., Smith M., Jackson K. (2012). A multidisciplinary approach to detecting and responding to elder mistreatment: Creating a university-community partnership. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 37, 276–290. 10.100z/s12103-012-9156-4
    1. Brandl B., Raymond J. A. (2012). Policy implications of recognizing that caregiver stress is not the primary cause of elder abuse. Generations, 36, 32–39.
    1. Buckner, R. L. (2004). Memory and executive function in aging and AD: Multiple factors that cause decline and reserve factors that compensate. Neuron, 44, 195–208. 10.1007/s12103-012-9156-4 - PubMed
    1. Castle N. G. (2012). Resident-to-resident abuse in nursing homes as reported by nurse aides. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, 24, 340–356. 10.1080/08946566.2012.661685 - PubMed

Publication types