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Addressing elder abuse through integrating law into health: What do allied health professionals at a Community Health Service in Melbourne, Australia, think?
Author(s) -
Lewis Virginia J.,
White Vanessa,
Hawthorne Faith,
Eastwood Jess,
Mullins Robyn
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/ajag.12720
Subject(s) - elder abuse , general partnership , service (business) , medicine , nursing , health professionals , psychology , suicide prevention , poison control , health care , political science , medical emergency , law , business , marketing
This research looked at the attitudes of Community Health Service (CHS) staff regarding the integration of a lawyer into their CHS both before and after the integration occurred. It assessed their confidence in identifying and addressing elder abuse at each point. A written survey was distributed to staff before the lawyer commenced (n = 126), and approximately 12 months afterwards (n = 54). The preliminary survey demonstrated widespread agreement that legal issues can affect older people and supported having a lawyer in a CHS. Respondents were not confident about their capacity to identify abuse and provide referrals to a lawyer, but this improved in the follow‐up survey. These CHS staff were aware of the potential impacts of elder abuse and supported embedding a lawyer in the health service. Information and training as part of this service model should focus on the skills needed for CHS staff to play their role in such a partnership.