UK to initiate major study of elder abuse

A new £2million joint researchinitiative, claimed to be the most exhaustive study ever undertaken,will examine the nature and extent of elder abuse in care homes and theNHS.  Ivan Lewis, Minister for Care Services, today launched thestudy as part of a range of new measures to strengthen the protectionof vulnerable older people in the care system.  Despitewidespread publicity where serious cases of abuse are uncovered thegovernment admits that little is known of the true extent of elderlyabuse.   The UK Study of the Abuse and Neglect of Older People(O’Keeffe et al., 2007) revealed that some 2.6% of those responding hadexperienced mistreatment involving a family member, close friend orcare worker during the previous year. It estimated that this wouldequate to about 227,000 people aged 66 and over in the UK as a whole.   Whenthe context of mistreatment was broadened to include incidentsinvolving neighbours and acquaintances, the overall prevalenceincreased to around 4.0%. This equates to some 342,400 older peopleliving in community settings who experience some form of mistreatment.

Source/more:  onMedica.com, http://www.onmedica.com/NewsArticle.aspx?id=62153085-412a-4712-a2b5-9791d05741b4