Elder abuse identification and intervention : a scoping review
King, Cathriona (2022)
King, Cathriona
2022
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022112423896
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022112423896
Tiivistelmä
Introduction: The concept of elder abuse has been described in scientific journals dating back fifty years already. However, the emphasis on addressing elder abuse has only begun to gain real significance over the past twenty years, coinciding with the realisation that populations are aging rapidly but the knowledge, standard practice and best practices needed for safeguarding this vulnerable portion of the population are not sufficiently developed to meet the changing demographics. The aim of this scoping review is to identify areas needing development in relation to identification and intervention and increase awareness in healthcare professionals of the significance of comprehensively understanding elder abuse.
Methods: PubMed, CINAHL complete including Medline, Ovid Emcare & Ovid Nursing Databases were used for the literature search. Identifying the right sources was guided by the recommendations set out in JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis 2020: search strategy for scoping reviews. A three-step search strategy was recommended. This search strategy was conducted by firstly making a pilot search, secondly the actual search through the analysis of the results using title, abstract, full-text and then thirdly examining the reference lists of all identified sources not just from the chosen articles to examine them for additional sources. This also led to a search for grey matter to attempt to close out any gaps in the search strategy which might have excluded relevant sources.
Results: Following a systematic search process, 13 studies were identified and included into this scoping review. This review had the data analysed using inductive content analysis. From this analysis the issues influencing identification and intervention emerged in the form of four themes: The need for improvements in identification and reporting; The need for research and valid tools; The need for the multidisciplinary collaboration and The need for strengthening of standard practice, best practice, and legislation.
Conclusions: Elder abuse is rarely identified and weakly understood. Issues related to identification and intervention such as underreporting, lack of knowledge and training, lack of research, multidisciplinary collaboration and strengthening of legislation and practices must all be addressed and developed, so as the health care professionals and allied health care providers designated to care for this vulnerable section of our society have the ability care for their clients in a safe and secure fashion.
Recommendations for future research: There is a dearth of empirical and evidence-based research on the topic of elder abuse. Without valid research there is no way to find answers to questions in an organised and systematic way that could inform practice and contribute to developing knowledge or improving existing knowledge in the field of elder abuse. The author recommends that more rigorous research to be conducted into elder abuse identification, reporting, interventions, and prevention, with the intention of providing valid information to inform best practice.
Methods: PubMed, CINAHL complete including Medline, Ovid Emcare & Ovid Nursing Databases were used for the literature search. Identifying the right sources was guided by the recommendations set out in JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis 2020: search strategy for scoping reviews. A three-step search strategy was recommended. This search strategy was conducted by firstly making a pilot search, secondly the actual search through the analysis of the results using title, abstract, full-text and then thirdly examining the reference lists of all identified sources not just from the chosen articles to examine them for additional sources. This also led to a search for grey matter to attempt to close out any gaps in the search strategy which might have excluded relevant sources.
Results: Following a systematic search process, 13 studies were identified and included into this scoping review. This review had the data analysed using inductive content analysis. From this analysis the issues influencing identification and intervention emerged in the form of four themes: The need for improvements in identification and reporting; The need for research and valid tools; The need for the multidisciplinary collaboration and The need for strengthening of standard practice, best practice, and legislation.
Conclusions: Elder abuse is rarely identified and weakly understood. Issues related to identification and intervention such as underreporting, lack of knowledge and training, lack of research, multidisciplinary collaboration and strengthening of legislation and practices must all be addressed and developed, so as the health care professionals and allied health care providers designated to care for this vulnerable section of our society have the ability care for their clients in a safe and secure fashion.
Recommendations for future research: There is a dearth of empirical and evidence-based research on the topic of elder abuse. Without valid research there is no way to find answers to questions in an organised and systematic way that could inform practice and contribute to developing knowledge or improving existing knowledge in the field of elder abuse. The author recommends that more rigorous research to be conducted into elder abuse identification, reporting, interventions, and prevention, with the intention of providing valid information to inform best practice.