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The purpose of this paper is to characterize investigative structures and investigator characteristics for each APS office in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Through mailed questionnaires and follow-up telephone calls, 1,409 questionnaires were completed for a return rate of 80%. The mean age of respondents was 46.4 years and ninety-nine percent of the respondents worked full-time and has been in his or her current position for an average of nine years. Half of the respondents reported using abuse screen or risk factor instruments when investigating an alleged elder abuse report. Seventy-three percent reported that they investigate only adult and elder allegations. Sixty percent of the respondents reported that a formal training program for elder abuse evaluations was in place for employees with an average length of two to four days. Sixty-nine percent of the investigators consider an elder to be "better off" most of the time following intervention, and that this improved status was a direct result of the resources provided. Nearly three-fourths of investigators reported that elder abuse was under reported in their area. Those on the front lines, the APS investigators, provide valuable insights regarding the systems in which they work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elder abuse is a societal problem that influences all members of the community. By 1993 each state had enacted laws addressing elder abuse in domestic and institutional settings (Tatara, 1995). These laws take many different forms, and in 44 states and the District of Columbia, contain sections regarding the designation of mandatory reporters of elder abuse and neglect. Health care professionals and law enforcement personnel frequently are listed as mandatory reporters. Iowa is the only state that requires education for its mandatory reporters. The purpose of this paper is to compare the investigation and substantiation rates for elder abuse allegations before and after July 1988 when Iowa statute (§ 235B.1 IA CO) was revised to ensure training of mandatory reporters. The investigation and substantiation rates were analyzed using two-sample t-tests for comparisons of four time periods and compared to investigation rates for Texas and Wisconsin. There were no significant differences in investigation rates for the four time periods and no significant increase in investigation rates over time for Iowa. Many different state agencies are involved in implementing and enforcing this expensive and complicated endeavor of required education for mandatory reporters. Unfortunately, this education has not impacted investigation or substantiation rates for elder abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this paper is to characterize investigative structures and investigator characteristics for each APS office in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Through mailed questionnaires and follow-up telephone calls, 1,409 questionnaires were completed for a return rate of 80%. The mean age of respondents was 46.4 years and ninety-nine percent of the respondents worked full-time and has been in his or her current position for an average of nine years. Half of the respondents reported using abuse screen or risk factor instruments when investigating an alleged elder abuse report. Seventy-three percent reported that they investigate only adult and elder allegations. Sixty percent of the respondents reported that a formal training program for elder abuse evaluations was in place for employees with an average length of two to four days. Sixty-nine percent of the investigators consider an elder to be "better off" most of the time following intervention, and that this improved status was a direct result of the resources provided. Nearly three-fourths of investigators reported that elder abuse was under reported in their area. Those on the front lines, the APS investigators, provide valuable insights regarding the systems in which they work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in elder abuse definitions hinder the comparison of research and state elder abuse data (Jogerst, Daly, Brinig et al., in press). The purposes of this paper are to describe and summarize the cider abuse definitions in the state statutes and present current definitions used in practice, education, and research. The definitions of elder abuse for the 50 state and District of Columbia laws addressing protective services for domestic elder abuse were analyzed. No one single term describing elder abuse was used uniformly across all statutes. "Abandonment," "mental anguish," "exploitation," "neglect," "self-neglect," and "sexual abuse" were predominant terms used in the statutes. It is unlikely that legislation for the 50 states and District of Columbia would be implemented to change the statutes definitions of elder abuse but it is possible to develop a list of definitions that can be used as model definitions for researchers, practitioners, and for future policy changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]