Elder Mistreatment: Deciding Who Is at Risk

(Hardback)

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Description

Mistreatment of the elderly became recognized as a serious and growing problem in the late 1970s, as a result of governmental investigations and research in the public and private sectors. Although in most states elder mistreatment is handled by social service agencies, other professionals are also needed to broaden the identification team and help alleviate the risk to the older adults. This book is designed for human services professionals who are not necessarily adult protective services specialists, but who provide direct ongoing services to elder adults. Its purpose is to offer guidelines for detecting elder mistreatment, so that assistance can be given to the vulnerable older adults to preserve their particular quality of life. The book is arranged into seven chapters. The first discusses why elder-serving human services professionals should become involved in mistreatment identification, while chapter two focuses on the various starting points in the definition of elder mistreatment. Chapters three and four review research on risk factors in elder mistreatment and detail varieties of mistreatment measures and methods for distinguishing between them. A review of risk instruments used in adult protective services and non-adult protective services settings forms the basis of chapter five, and chapter six outlines a proposed risk assessment model, specially designed for elder-serving human service professionals. The final chapter offers some prospects for the future of elder mistreatment risk assessments. The work concludes with a set of four appendices, covering contact persons in lead agencies, report-receiving authorities within jurisdictions, health status risk assessment, and prevention strategies. This volume will be a useful tool for human services professionals, mental health care providers, and social health care and legal services professionals, as well as a useful addition to reference collections in public, academic, and medical libraries.

Reviews

The text is based on a significant amount of research and is well referenced. The analysis is thoughtful and readable. Rehabilitation nurses may find this book especially relevant because they often share long-lasting and trusting relationships with their clients and because they work in settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes, where mistreatment may occur....This book would be an excellent reference for the student, educator, or researcher who is interested in gerontaological nursing or elde mistreatment. It provides a comprehensive look at definitional starting points, risk factors for elder mistreatment, and ethics for the clinical practitioner.-Rehabilitation Nursing
"The text is based on a significant amount of research and is well referenced. The analysis is thoughtful and readable. Rehabilitation nurses may find this book especially relevant because they often share long-lasting and trusting relationships with their clients and because they work in settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes, where mistreatment may occur....This book would be an excellent reference for the student, educator, or researcher who is interested in gerontaological nursing or elde mistreatment. It provides a comprehensive look at definitional starting points, risk factors for elder mistreatment, and ethics for the clinical practitioner."-Rehabilitation Nursing

Author Bio

TANYA FUSCO JOHNSON is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. She is co-author of Elder Neglect and Abuse: An Annotated Bibliography (Greenwood Press, 1985). Dr. Johnson also authored Critical Issues in the Definition of Elder Mistreatment in K.A. Pillemer and R.S. Wolf's Elder Abuse: Conflict in the Family (Auburn House, 1986) and has co-authored a chapter in Carl Eisdorfer, ed., The Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, (1986).