Out of the Shadows
Uncovering Substance Use and Elder Abuse
How to Assess Abuse
Health and mental health professionals working with older adults are in an ideal position to screen for elder abuse, intimate partner violence, substance use, and depression. Professionals can use the following screening tools with victims and /or perpetrators.
- Screening Victims for Elder Abuse
- Screening Caregivers for Elder Abuse
- Screening for Intimate Partner Violence
- Screening for Alcohol Abuse
- Screening for Depression
Screening Victims for Elder Abuse
The American Medical Association (AMA) recommends that every clinical setting have a protocol, such as a narrative, checklist, or some other standardized form, that enables all service providers to rapidly assess elder mistreatment. The AMA recommends providers first obtain basic demographic information about the patient's family and socioeconomic status. In addition, providers should ask general questions about the overall well-being of the older person and direct questions relating to common indicators for each type of mistreatment.
Available instruments include:
- Screening For Elder Abuse
- Detection: Indications of Elder Mistreatment
- Indicators of Abuse Screen - has been tested for reliability and validity and can help sensitize professionals to high-risk signals for abuse.
- Brief Abuse Screen for the Elderly (BASE)
- Hwalek-Senstock Elder Abuse Screening Test (HSEAST)
- The Caregiver Abuse Screen (Reis-Nahmiash CASE) - assesses abuse and the potential risk for abuse. It is intended for use with all caregivers and is useful when the care recipient is unavailable or unable to answer questions.
The AMA also has created a Screening and Intervention Plan to illustrate a routine pattern of steps to follow.
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Last Updated: 8/3/04
SAMHSA is an Agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
