Determining Prevalence and Correlates of Elder Abuse Using Promotores: Low‐Income Immigrant Latinos Report High Rates of Abuse and Neglect

Abstract

Low-income Latino immigrants are understudied in elder abuse research. Limited English proficiency, economic insecurity, neighborhood seclusion, a tradition of resolving conflicts within the family, and mistrust of authorities may impede survey research and suppress abuse reporting. To overcome these barriers, we recruited and trained promotores, local Spanish-speaking Latinos, to interview a sample of Latino adults age 66 and older residing in low-income communities. The promotores conducted door-to-door interviews in randomly selected census tracts in Los Angeles to assess the frequency of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, financial exploitation, and caregiver neglect. Overall, 40.4% of Latino elders experienced some form of abuse and/or neglect within the previous year. Nearly 25% reported psychological abuse, 10.7% indicated physical assault, 9% reported sexual abuse, 16.7% indicated financial exploitation, and 11.7% were neglected by their caregivers. Younger age, higher education, and experiencing sexual or physical abuse before age 65 were significant risk factors for psychological, physical, and/or sexual abuse. Years lived in the United States, younger age, and prior abuse were associated with increased risk of financial exploitation. Years spent living in the U.S. was a significant risk factor for caregiver neglect. Abuse prevalence was much higher in all mistreatment domains than findings from previous research on community-dwelling elders, suggesting that low-income Latino immigrants are highly vulnerable to elder mistreatment, or that respondents are more willing to disclose abuse to promotores who represent their culture and community.

Prevalence of violence against the elderly and associated factors - a population based study in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina

“…Previous studies 17,18 have also confirmed this to be the most common form, while suggesting that this type of violence increases the possibility of other types of violence occurring, since it places the elderly individual in a situation of humiliation and fear, which allows the aggressor to continue or commit other types of abuse.…”

“…4 However, other studies have shown that the prevalence of violence can range between 2.2% and 40.4%. 16,17 This variation in estimates could be due to the methods applied in studies and interviews, especially considering that the interview may be conducted in the presence of caregivers and/or family members. The results could also be affected by the understanding of the concept of violence of the elderly individual.…”

Healthcare Experiences of Latinos in a Nontraditional Destination Area

“…For example, Latino health workers in Durham, North Carolina were able to overcome the multiple barriers to clinic-based HIV testing among Latino immigrants by going door-to-door to conduct rapid testing (Seña, Hammer, Wilson, Zeveloff, & Gamble, 2010). Researchers investigating elder abuse discovered that Latino seniors were more likely to disclose physical, mental, and financial abuse to promotores representing their culture and community (DeLiema, Gassoumis, Homeier, & Wilber, 2012).…”

Latino Mother/Daughter Dyadic Attachment as a Mediator for Substance Use Disorder and Emotional Abuse

“…Previous investigations have demonstrated that 25-33% of Latinas experience emotional abuse, which is much higher than the 4.6% reported in studies of nationally representative U.S. samples (2, 3, 4). Exposure to emotional abuse causes stress and negatively affects a woman's mental health (5, 6); nonetheless, most previous studies have only investigated emotional abuse of Latina women that is perpetrated by their husbands (7).…”