The Case Management Approach to Protecting Older People from Abuse and Mistreatment: Lessons from the Irish Experience.

The aim of this paper is to inform the development of social work practice and policy by applying a practice-based evidence perspective to the experiential knowledge of social workers responsible for managing cases of elder abuse in Ireland. The study adopted a qualitative descriptive research design. Semi-structured interview data were collected from a purposive sample of eighteen senior case workers and inductive thematic analysis was undertaken. The findings are presented according to three themes: elder abuse case management, practice strategies for overcoming challenges and augmenting protective practice. By examining practice in the context of wider socio-political and legislative contexts, the paper provides learning in key areas for the protection of older people. The challenges to case management practice and the strategies employed to respond to these challenges are discussed in terms of adult protective service policy development and its relationship to practice. While recognising the imperative to respect a client's right to self-determination, increased statutory authority for the duty of the state to protect older people from abuse as well as the role of the case worker to act on behalf of the state to implement protective interventions is important for the future development of the service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]