Identifying Interventions and their Efficacy as used by a Community Agency Managing and Responding to Elder Abuse

Limited research has been conducted to identify how elder abuse (EA) can be managed and prevented. Interventions employed by a community agency multidisciplinary team across 164 EA cases were examined. Results identified the largest number (n=369) and widest variety of EA interventions to date. Using content analysis, interventions with similar proximal goals were grouped into 30 intervention strategies to evaluate efficacy and 12 higher-order intervention categories to guide practice. Intervention outcomes were rated as positive, negative, neutral, could not implement or unknown. Positive outcomes were the most common (35%) and included novel and/or effective interventions aimed at perpetrators; such as physical treatment, social support and communication. Few (1%) interventions had negative outcomes. Many interventions could not be implemented (21%), often due to a lack of funding or victim refusal. Results suggest changes to policy, practice and research methodology, that could increase positive outcomes through facilitation of intervention implementation and improved data access.