Extreme Risk Protection Orders in Older Adults in Six U.S. States: A Descriptive Study

Healthcare Professionals and Extreme Risk Protection Orders: A Concise Review

“…Of the studies synthesizing 6700 + ERPO case report filings in six states between 2016 and 2020, no ERPOs were filed by any healthcare professional (Betz et al, 2023;Conrick et al, 2023), although three of the states permitted such filings at the time (Colorado, Connecticut, and Maryland). According to Betz et al (2023), most healthcare professionals preferred to make referrals to law enforcement officers to file ERPO petitions, rather than filing them directly. Conrick et al (2023) suggested that it might be easier for healthcare professionals to take this role of secondary petitioner because it prevents the need for healthcare professionals to directly petition with the courts.…”

“…Conrick et al (2023) identified that social workers were knowledgeable in assessing and intervening with clients at risk of firearm related harm, given that this is a legal and ethical requirement in their profession, but that there was a lack of understanding about the ERPO process. Two studies failed to address ERPO knowledge (Betz et al, 2023;Zeoli et al, 2022). Given that in previous studies nurses have been absent or combined with other healthcare professionals, nurses' knowledge of ERPOs is unknown.…”

“…Although ERPOs are civil-not criminal-actions, petitioners would do well to consider the potential unintended consequences of contact between law enforcement and vulnerable, disenfranchised groups. Given that several studies indicated no involvement of healthcare professionals with ERPOs (Betz et al, 2023;Zeoli et al, 2022), future research might examine the effect of unclear ethical and legal ERPO liability on ERPO involvement.…”

“…All the research publications in this small body of literature were descriptive in nature, and their interpretation was hampered by lack of precision in language. Authors mentioned social workers, physicians, crisis workers and psychologists-but not nurses-as healthcare professionals (Betz et al, 2023;Conrick et al, 2023). This review located a single study examining the ERPO knowledge and attitudes among advanced practice registered nurses which was mistitled advanced registered nurse practitioners (Gause et al, 2022).…”

“…It appeared from the literature that healthcare professionals were not filing ERPO petitions, even in the states where they were permitted to do so. Of the studies synthesizing 6700 + ERPO case report filings in six states between 2016 and 2020, no ERPOs were filed by any healthcare professional (Betz et al, 2023;Conrick et al, 2023), although three of the states permitted such filings at the time (Colorado, Connecticut, and Maryland). According to Betz et al (2023), most healthcare professionals preferred to make referrals to law enforcement officers to file ERPO petitions, rather than filing them directly.…”