Research Project concludes with a toolkit for legal practitioners to identify and act on elder abuse
Professor John Anderson and Shaun McCarthy were part of a team of researchers who recently completed a pilot project to improve screening and intervention through a health-legal collaboration as part of the broader ‘Action on Elder Abuse” research work.
This pilot project was funded by a grant from the NSW Department of Family and Community Service (Ageing and Disability Commission). It brought together health and legal service providers in the Newcastle/Hunter region to design and pilot test an intervention to support elder abuse screening for community-dwelling older adults and the use of referral pathways for timely and effective action to address suspected situations of abuse.
A major outcome of this pilot project is Identifying and Acting on Elder Abuse: A Toolkit for Legal Practitioners, which has been circulated among participants in the study, other key stakeholders and legal practitioners. This toolkit is available to download here and provides a suggested elder abuse screening tool for use by legal practitioners. The toolkit is intended to be a living document to be updated and expanded as new information and research becomes available. The project team is planning an official launch of the toolkit in Sydney later this month.
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The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.