U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Abuse and Neglect of Older Adults in Institutional Settings: An Annotated Bibliography

NCJ Number
159713
Author(s)
C Spencer; M Beaulieu
Date Published
1994
Length
97 pages
Annotation
This bibliography lists and describes 233 books, articles, and audiovisual materials focusing on the abuse and neglect of elderly persons in institutional settings, primarily in Canada and the United States.
Abstract
The settings considered range from group homes and family care homes with three of four residents to large facilities such as nursing homes or hospitals. The documents note that mistreatment of older adults may be committed by staff, family, friends, or neighbors. Most of the materials were produced between 1981 and 1993; some were produced in 1994. The documents include training materials, community guidelines, curriculum approaches, and practice materials that focus on prevention, early intervention, and attention to the needs of victims. They are grouped into four categories. The resources in the introductory section define specific types of abuse or neglect and focus on quality of care, quality of life, guiding principles, and ethical issues. The next section focuses on causes, identification, and assessment and focuses on indicators of abuse, barriers to identification and reporting, and ethical dilemmas associated with identifying the problem. The intervention section covers problems specific to institutional settings and Canadian law related to the topic. The final section focus on prevention and includes the development of protocols and procedures, personnel training, the use of resident or family councils, and strategies to increase community involvement. Bibliographic information is provided for each item, which can also be obtained from Health Canada's National Clearinghouse on Family Violence