Recognizing and reporting elder abuse and neglect.

Abstract

Elder abuse (physical, sexual, or psychological) and neglect (by caretakers or self-neglect) are major public health problems. Most cases are not identified by clinicians and reported to the appropriate government agencies. There are some barriers to clinician identification and reporting of cases of elder abuse or neglect. These barriers mainly result from a lack of clinician education and comfort regarding this topic. We propose that clinician understanding of the phenomenon of elder mistreatment, familiarity with a simple approach to screening and identification of cases, awareness of risk factors and warning signs, and awareness of appropriate interventions will help to eliminate these barriers and result in clinicians properly fulfilling their duty to help protect their most vulnerable elderly patients.