Conclusion
Elder abuse has long been a taboo topic. At present there is a sense of urgency to elevate elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation as a national concern and a priority for HCPs both within the VA health care system and community. Awareness of elder abuse and neglect needs to be highlighted in order for recognition and prompt intervention to follow. Interventions should include joint federal efforts to raise public awareness of the signs of elder abuse, steps to take, and how to intervene as concerned citizen. Bridges need to be connected between health care systems and community resources, utilizing social media and educational interventions. There also is a need for parallel campaigns geared to HCPs to ensure that veterans are being screened and elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation are being appropriately diagnosed and victims cared for.
Caregiver stress and burden also needs to be considered as elder abuse and neglect are not always intentional, and as we have seen with the research already done at the VA, most elder abuse cases can be resolved by swift recognition and timely addition of services in the home in lieu of institutionalization. Discussions on elder abuse should not be feared. Rather, these conversations between citizens as well as HCPs and their clients can be viewed as a point of advocacy for older adults. More specifically, identification of elder abuse can be improved with the implementation of elder abuse screening tools and development of a new tool to help identify at-risk veterans before abuse even occurs.
Prevention can be achieved with increased education to raise awareness of elder abuse. Treatment of elder abuse should include the development of a standard operating procedure on elder abuse, collaboration between state and local officials, such as department of elderly affairs or adult protective services, utilization of medical foster homes, increased accessibility to home-based primary care and respite services as well as the development of shelter beds in VA-associated nursing homes for victims of elder abuse.
Last, additional research is needed to better understand the prevalence of elder abuse among veterans, identify those who are most at risk within the veteran population, and inform the development of evidence-based interventions. As the number of older adults grows, the need for programs and services is critical to ensure protection and support of this vulnerable group within society.
