Elder mistreatment (EM) is a major public health problem with prevalence estimate ranges from 7.6% to 12.7% among older adults. EM causes serious adverse outcomes for its victims including injury, increased service utilization, mental distress and increased mortality. A major barrier in overcoming EM is the inability to accurately identify EM victims. It is estimated that only 1 in 24 cases become known to authorities. This is problematic as older adults are not likely to report that they are being mistreated. To improve the screening for EM and promote self-disclosure we will study the Feasibility of Virtual cOaching in making Informed Choices on Elder Mistreatment Self-Disclosure (VOICES). The overarching aim of this project is to VOICES that runs on tablets and used by older adult's screen for EM. VOICES will be utilizing virtual coaching, interactive multimedia libraries (e.g. graphics, video clips, animations, etc.), techniques form electronic screening for intimate partner violence, and brief motivational interviewing designed to enhance identifying EM among older adults. Adults with disabilities are at a greater risk of EM compared to those without. This is a population that we would like to include in our research study to help make our tool more inclusive. Our initial concept is to present this tool to older adults age 60+ not hard of hearing or without visual impairments that would prohibit their ability to use an iPad. This supplement request would allow us to increase the scope of the patient population to include adults with disabilities that we could not previously include in our initial study design.
Our aims are: 1) To perform a preliminary evaluation of the usability of the VOICES screening tool for older individuals with visual or hearing disabilities; 2) To enhance and refine the interactive VOICES tool to be usable and acceptable for older adults with visual or hearing disabilities.
