Elder Abuse

Older adults are commonly victims of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, with 5-10% of community-dwelling seniors experiencing elder mistreatment each year. An emergency department (ED) visit offers a critical opportunity to identify elder mistreatment. Victims of elder mistreatment seek emergency care more frequently than other older adults and are less likely to receive routine care from a primary outpatient provider. Further, the potential for identifying elder abuse in the ED is likely higher than in other healthcare settings because ED visits are typically prolonged, involving interaction with providers from multiple disciplines.

In this section, you can learn about elder mistreatment and what resources are available to help your emergency department recognize cases, and know how to access community resources to help these individuals. Unfortunately, there is no standard screening or protocol in this area, so if you have methods for identification of elder abuse in your emergency department please do share with our community.

You can share by creating an account and contributing in our “Examples of Change” section or in the Community Talk section.