It is estimated that while one of every three cases of child abuse is reported to authorities, only one of every eight cases of elder abuse is reported. Thus, a significant number of elder abuse cases go undetected. In addition, although mandatory reporting now exists nationwide, the proportion of elder abuse cases reported has not increased and a large proportion of the reported cases are not substantiated. This may be due in part to the fact that recognition of elder abuse is relatively new, and it often is not based on sound empirical knowledge. Further, detection of elder abuse has been impeded by the lack of valid and reliable screening and detection protocols. An efficient screening protocol for elder abuse that can be used by health care or human services providers with elders in a variety of settings is needed in order to improve the recognition, substantiation, and treatment of elder abuse. The purpose of this three-phase study is to develop and field test such an instrument. During Phase I, the screening protocol will be developed based on items from the Elder Abuse Vignette Scale (EAVS) used in earlier studies. In Phase II, the instrument will be validated with known cases of both abused and non-abused elders served by Departments of Social Services in 6 North Carolina counties to determine its criterion validity and revised as needed. In Phase III, the screening protocol will be field tested to determine its validity and reliability with elders of unknown abuse status who are seen in a variety of settings by doctors, nurses and social workers.
