Organizational Structures of Elder Abuse Reporting Systems

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the evolution, structure, and processes of statewide administrative structures of elder abuse reporting and response systems. This inquiry examines the background of elder abuse reporting in the United States. Specifically, it reviews the philosophical foundations of the policies that undergird the mechanisms and administration of elder abuse reporting systems. The study also examines the available descriptive data on service-delivery models across states to further describe the characteristics of the system; what type of entities form the elder abuse reporting system? Is the information-gathering network of the system centralized or decentralized? Does service delivery employ public-private partnership and involvement of multidisciplinary teams of service providers, and how are these characteristics distributed across states? Finally, the manuscript explores the implications of the organizational configurations of the Adult Protective Services (APS) on the efficacy of elder abuse reporting and treatment.

Analysis of Elder Abuse Statutes Across the United States, 2011–2012

“…As Teaster and colleagues (2006) identified, federal legislation allows states to have flexibility in how they approach elder abuse, which was seen in this study. Thus, social workers not only need to understand state laws about elder abuse, but the barriers and obstacles associated with these laws, including how abuse is defined as argued by Mukherjee (2011), mandatory versus permissive/voluntary reporting requirements, and the entity that is responsible for investigations. While the flexibility in elder abuse policy between the states can have its benefits and allows for autonomy in state governance, it has created challenges as there are not clear national practices in the prevention of elder abuse, as was seen in this study.…”

“…Schmeidel and colleagues (2012) found that the threshold to trigger an investigation was so high that vulnerable elders in the community were unprotected. Donovan and Regehr (2010) identified other challenges that social workers face when confronting potential elder abuse, including issues of competency, misinterpreting the actions of a highly cooperative caregiver, balancing policy issues that differ between elder abuse and child abuse and domestic violence, language and time factors, and as identified by Mukherjee (2011), a lack of consistent definitions of abuse among mandatory reporters.…”

“…A study of elder abuse in New York identified that one out of every 24 cases of elder abuse goes unreported (Lachs & Berman, 2011). Mukherjee (2011) suggested that the rates of reporting elder abuse are low due to the lack of an agreed-upon definition of what actually constitutes elder abuse, as professionals from different disciplines define elder abuse in different ways, even though all may be mandatory reporters. This creates challenges for professionals as they work to determine those at risk for abuse and if the circumstances seen in the field are considered reportable based on individual state law.…”

Indicators of Abuse in the Elderly ICU Patient

“…In most states, Adult Protective Services and law enforcement agencies are notified. 23 Social work and geriatric care teams may be called for assistance, and a multidisciplinary approach applied. In preparation for the potential recognition of elder abuse in the ICU setting, barriers to identification and intervention must be determined.…”

Elders and the criminal justice system

“…The National Center on Elder Abuse estimates that 1 -2 million cases of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation occur every year in the USA, yet less than one in five cases is reported. Some estimates suggest that only 1 in 27 cases is reported (Mukherjee 2011).…”