Abstract
Elder abuse is becoming more prevalent as countries (particularly in Asia) experience rapidly ageing populations. Consequently, this issue has detrimental effects on older adults’ quality of life. Due to under-reporting and low help-seeking, most cases that reach the attention of authorities are considered critical and pose challenges for interventions. Opportunities exist for early detection of elder abuse by social and healthcare professionals working in the community who have unique access to older adults. However, studies of health professionals have generally found evidence of poor levels of awareness, perception of abuse, and mediocre knowledge of reporting procedures. Little is known about elder abuse and service professionals’ responses in Asia’s community settings. In Asian populations, such as Singapore, with strong traditions of family responsibility, older adults are likely reluctant to seek abuse interventions. We argue that current knowledge and attitudes of health and social care professionals are vital factors influencing their ability to detect and respond to suspected elder abuse cases in the community. We evaluate aforementioned professions’ level of elder abuse knowledge, attitudes, and confidence to respond to elder abuse cases in Singapore’s community. An online survey was disseminated in February 2022 amongst professional groups with 291 respondents from 14 professions. Findings suggest that professionals’ knowledge and confidence levels are still significantly lower than desired levels, indicating a need for more structured training programs to identify abuse and provide timely intervention for both professions.
Presenters
Jonathan TanResearch Officer, Family Services, Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities, Central Singapore, Singapore Dzulfikaar Sutandar
Student, Bachelors of Arts - Extended Major in Sociology/ Masters in Clinical Epidemiology (in progress), The University of Queensland , Queensland, Australia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
Elder Abuse, Knowledge, Attitudes, Confidence, Early Intervention, Healthcare, Social, Southeast-Asia
