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This article aims to map existing prevalence research on abuse and neglect of older people and to provide a critical overview of existing methodologies, which have been adopted to survey the prevalence rates of abuse against elders. This article is part of the prevalence study of Abuse and Violence against Older Women (AVOW) study, which was conducted in five European countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Lithuania, and Portugal). The article provides an overview of the state of the art of prevalence data, survey designs and methods, instruments and results in Europe. Therefore, this draws on an extensive literature search and qualitative content analysis, which was conducted as an early part of the AVOW study. Results indicate that some EU countries have a rich history of prevalence research, whereas other countries have just begun to tackle this aspect of research on of elder abuse. One of the lacunae concerns reliable numbers on the prevalence rates of elder abuse. Research about where, when and how often elder abuse occurs, is inadequate and inconsistent. Data in some cases are based on professionals' reports rather than on information from older people themselves. Surveying elders about such a sensitive topic, however, implies the need for an adequate research instrument (questionnaire) and research design, and an adapted data collection method. In conclusion, substantial attention is paid to outlining possible guidelines for future research.

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Purpose -This article aims to explore the perpetrators of abuse among older women living in the community. The study examines whether differences between the perpetrators of different forms of abuse, and for different groups of older women (e.g. by income or age groups) can be detected. Finally, it aims to investigate whether older women talk about the abuse to family or friends, or report it to an official or formal agency, in relation to different perpetrators.Design/methodology/approach -This article provides results from the prevalence study of Abuse and Violence against Older Women in Europe (AVOW-study). The study involved scientific partners from five EU countries: Finland, Austria, Belgium, Lithuania, and Portugal. In these five countries, the same study was conducted during 2010. In total, 2,880 older women living in the community were interviewed during the course of the study.Findings -The results indicate that 28.1per cent of older women across all countries have experienced some kind of violence and abuse, in the last 12 months, by someone who is close to them. The results offer specific figures for the prevalence of different types of abuse, i.e. physical, psychological, sexual, and financial abuse; violation of personal rights; and neglect. Furthermore, additional insights about the main perpetrators of abuse for different groups of older women are offered.Research limitations/implications -The article does not address the differences between the five countries. Further research could examine the between-country variations and identify possible country-specific explanations.Practical implications -The implications of these findings for the development of policy and practice are highlighted. Applying only a crime-focused approach on this topic is not sufficient. Health and social welfare sectors play a key role in ensuring dignity in, and quality of, formal and informal care and need to be supported to do so. Originality/value -The paper presents the findings of an extensive multi-national survey on abuse of older women in five European countries.

Resumo A perda por viuvez em idade avançada é, porventura, de entre vários acontecimentos do ciclo de vida, um dos mais normativos e, simultaneamente, dos menos investigados. Com o aumento da esperança de vida, a viuvez nos adultos idosos ocorre cada vez mais tarde no ciclo de vida, é um acontecimento expectável e parece haver vantagens em conceptualizá-lo como uma importante transição psico-social que implica a reconfiguração do significado da vida e dos seus propósitos. Neste artigo abordaremos alguns dos principais modelos do processo de luto e algumas variáveis individuais e contextuais que determinam reacções associadas à perda. Faremos uma particular focalização no modelo proposto por Stroebe e Schut bem como nas suas implicações teóricas e práticas.

The discussion revolves around how these findings could help improving measuring elder abuse. Advantages and disadvantages of the questionnaire and type of data collection methods are discussed in relation to three potential types of response errors: item positioning effect, acquiescence and social desirability.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify, describe and compare the studies of the prevalence of abuse and neglect of older adults developed in Portugal. Design/methodology/approach – A retrospective bibliographic search of seven descriptors in English and Portuguese, of academic and professional papers and university institutional repositories was performed. Findings – Of the nine studies selected, seven consisted of grey literature – research developed within the course of academic post-graduate studies. The studies were conducted on a small scale, more often than not, through a non-probabilistic convenience sampling method. From the nine studies, two instruments prevailed: the Questions to Elicit Elder Abuse aimed at older adults and the Caregiver Abuse Screen aimed at caregivers. Community-dwelling older adults self-reported a higher prevalence of abuse (between 66.7 and 86.7 per cent) than care professionals working with older adults suffering from dementia (between 26.7 and 47.4 per cent). Emotional abuse and neglect were the first and second most prevalent forms of abuse, followed by financial abuse, whereas physical abuse was the least prevalent type of abuse encountered. A poorer perception of health, not making/receiving visits and residing in an urban area were the more consistent variables associated with abuse of older adults. Originality/value – Overall, this paper provides a first consideration to the prevalence rates of older adult abuse and neglect from research studies in Portugal. The revised design studies and screening methods employed can help researchers improve future study design and move from the description to a more theoretically oriented research. Furthermore, it can help practitioners learn screening methods and discover the findings associated with abuse

This article examines the ecological risk factors of abuse against older women. Data from 2,880 older women was randomly collected in five European countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Lithuania and Portugal) using a standardized questionnaire. Results indicate that overall 30.1 % older women had at least one experience of abuse in the past year. The findings demonstrate that a single emphasis on personal risk factors (e.g. health, coping) is important but too simple: abuse is multi-faceted and is embedded in environmental (e.g. loneliness, household income) as well as macro-cultural contexts (e.g. old age dependency ratio).