Identifying and addressing the issues of elder abuse: A rural perspective

This article presents the findings of a survey of 10 community nurses and home care workers providing home-based care for people 65 years and older living in rural north west New South Wales (NSW). The findings suggest that the type and prevalence of elder abuse in non-metropolitan areas is very similar to that in metropolitan areas. This elder abuse research, the first in a nonmetropolitan area in NSW, was carried out in 1995. Of 598 clients receiving home-based care during the study, 33 cases (5.5%) of elder abuse were identified. The study documented age of clients, living arrangements, type of abuse, number and type of health problems, interventions offered, services accessed, and services required but not available.