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European map of prevalence rates of elder abuse and its impact for future research

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Abstract

This article aims to map existing prevalence research on abuse and neglect of older people and to provide a critical overview of existing methodologies, which have been adopted to survey the prevalence rates of abuse against elders. This article is part of the prevalence study of Abuse and Violence against Older Women (AVOW) study, which was conducted in five European countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Lithuania, and Portugal). The article provides an overview of the state of the art of prevalence data, survey designs and methods, instruments and results in Europe. Therefore, this draws on an extensive literature search and qualitative content analysis, which was conducted as an early part of the AVOW study. Results indicate that some EU countries have a rich history of prevalence research, whereas other countries have just begun to tackle this aspect of research on of elder abuse. One of the lacunae concerns reliable numbers on the prevalence rates of elder abuse. Research about where, when and how often elder abuse occurs, is inadequate and inconsistent. Data in some cases are based on professionals’ reports rather than on information from older people themselves. Surveying elders about such a sensitive topic, however, implies the need for an adequate research instrument (questionnaire) and research design, and an adapted data collection method. In conclusion, substantial attention is paid to outlining possible guidelines for future research.

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Notes

  1. Following databases were consulted: Academic Search Complete, Academic Search Elite, AgeLine, Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Science Database, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, Central & Eastern European Academic Source, EBSCOhost, Gerolit, Journals@Ovid LWW Total Access Collection, Medline, Oxford Journals online, Oxford Reference Online: The Premium Collection, the institutional repositories of five Portuguese universities: Minho, Porto, Coimbra, Aveiro and Lisboa. PsychInfo, PsychArticles, PsyndexPLUS, ProQuest, Sociological Abstracts, Social Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Full Text, Social Services Abstracts, Sozialwissenschaften (OLC-SSG), Web of Sciences, WiSo-Social Sciences.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to the European Commission’s DAPHNE III programme that has supported and funded the AVOW study. Furthermore, the authors are grateful to—Minna Piispa, The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland; Helena Ewalds, The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland; Ariela Lowenstein, Head Center for Research & Study of Aging, Department of Masters of Gerontology, University of Haifa, Israel; Rui Dionísio, Psychologist and Nurse, Hospital of Viseu; Isabel Iborra Marmolejo from research coordinator of Queen Sofía Center, Spain; Olga Tóth, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Sociology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary; Ana Luísa Patoleia, Ana Margarida Silva, Carlos Fernandes, Cláudia Chaves, Maria Emília Vergueiro and Rui Dionísio; Gerd Callewaert from the Flemish Reporting Point on Elder Abuse; Dr. Leo Pas, who has been working with Domus Medica; Dr. Nicolas Berg who was involved with CAPAM; and Marie Thérèse Casman from the University of Liège—for providing us with information, overviews, national reports and studies, prevalence figures, and other information on the abuse and mistreatment of older people.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Liesbeth De Donder & Dominique Verté

  2. Department of Living Conditions, Health and Wellbeing, National Institute for Welfare and Health (THL), P.O. Box 30, 00271, Helsinki, Finland

    Minna-Liisa Luoma & Mira Koivusilta

  3. School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, University of East Anglia, Edith Cavell Building, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

    Bridget Penhale

  4. Research Institute of the Red Cross, Nottendorfer Gasse 21, 1030, Vienna, Austria

    Gert Lang & Anna Schopf

  5. Department of Psychology (IEP), University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Ana J. Santos & José Ferreira Alves

  6. Sociology Department, Vytautas Magnus University, Donelaicio 52-310, 44244, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Ilona Tamutiene & Jolanta Reingarde

  7. Palmenia Centre for Continuing Education, University of Helsinki, Nilsiänkatu 3, PL 58, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Sirkka Perttu

  8. Palmenia Centre for Continuing Education, University of Helsinki, Vuorikatu 24, P.O. Box 58, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Tiina Savola

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  1. Liesbeth De Donder
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  2. Minna-Liisa Luoma
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  3. Bridget Penhale
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  4. Gert Lang
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  5. Ana J. Santos
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  6. Ilona Tamutiene
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  7. Mira Koivusilta
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  8. Anna Schopf
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  9. José Ferreira Alves
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  10. Jolanta Reingarde
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  11. Sirkka Perttu
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  12. Tiina Savola
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  13. Dominique Verté
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Correspondence to Liesbeth De Donder.

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Responsible editor: H. W. Wahl.

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De Donder, L., Luoma, ML., Penhale, B. et al. European map of prevalence rates of elder abuse and its impact for future research. Eur J Ageing 8, 129–143 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-011-0187-3

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