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  • Cover page of the Best Practice Guidelines

    Best practice guidelines for interviewing older people.

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Abuse of older people: research to raise awareness and improve service responses

One in six older people experience some form of abuse, mistreatment or harm. Yet, despite this high prevalence, public awareness about the abuse of older people (elder abuse) is remarkably low.

The abuse and mistreatment of older people is a complex social issue. It occurs across all societies, cultures and socio-economic groups in varying forms, contexts, and relationships. Effective responses therefore require commitment from all levels of government and demand evidence-based policy and practice in multiple relevant sectors, including legal, financial, health and care services, policing and statutory responses.

The SAGE Futures Lab is involved in several research initiatives relating to the abuse of older people. Our research engages policy actors across sectors, and offers a sociological contribution to this field, where criminological, legal and health research dominate. We emphasise holistic, integrated, and interdisciplinary research and responses and always aim to foreground the lived experiences of older adults.

Related projects

Publications

  • Stevens, C., Baldassar, L., O’Brien, E., Cokis, E., Krzyzowski, L., Du Plooy, M.G.C., Jones, B., Noonan, G. & Ottolini, F. (2023). Everyone’s business: Research into responses to the abuse of older people (elder abuse) in Western Australia. Perth: Social Ageing (SAGE) Futures Lab.
  • Stevens, C., Du Plooy, M.G.C., & Baldassar, L. (2023). Best Practice Guidelines for Interviewing Older People at Risk. Perth: Northern Suburbs Community Legal Centre.
  • About 1 in 6 older Australians experiences elder abuse. Here are the reasons they don’t get help
  • Cavuoto, MG., Markusevska, S., Stevens, C., Reyes, P., Renshaw, G., Peters , MD., Dow, B., Feldman, P., Gilbert, A., Manias, E., Mortimer, D., Enticott, J., Cooper, C., Antoniades, J., Appleton, B., Nakrem, S., O'Brien, M., Ostaszkiewicz, J., Eckert, M., Durston, C., Brijnath, B. (2024). The impact of elder abuse training on subacute health providers and older adults: study protocol for a randomized control trial. Trials, 25(1), Article number 338. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-024-08160-3.
  • Brijnath, B., Cavuoto, M., Feldman, P., Dow, B., Antoniades, J., Ostaszkiewicz, J., Nakrem, S., Stevens, C., Reyes, P., Renshaw, G., Peters, MD., Gilbert, A., Manias, E., Mortimer, D., Enticott, J., Cooper, C., Durston, C., Appleton, B., O'Brien, M., Eckert, M., Markusevska, S. (2024). Codesigning for health provider training to improve detection and response to elder abuse. The Gerontologist. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnae153 .
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