Availability and Utility of Interdisciplinary Data on Elder Abuse: A White Paper for the National Center on Elder Abuse

摘要

There is wide consensus that currently a clear picture of the incidence and prevalence of elder abuse in the United States is sadly lacking--and that such a picture is essential if social policy is to be created to impact prevention and treatment. While the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) has collected and analyzed state adult protective services data, the penumbra of additional data elements that might be available through health care, long term care, criminal justice, fiduciary, and legal services networks has remained largely unexplored. Therefore, the NCEA sought the development of a white paper examining such data elements, their scope and limitations, and outlining their potential use by the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA), other federal agencies, and elder abuse professionals and advocates. In response, the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging (ABA Commission) conducted exploratory research on a wide range of possible data sources. This white paper presents and evaluates the results.