Welcome to the Special World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) edition of our resource roundup, The Field Guide. Ahead of the this year’s WEAAD on June 15, we shared 16 elder justice resources daily through our social media channels. The campaign, #16for2016, was featured on our Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn pages. The campaign featured resources for elder justice professionals published after the 2015 WEAAD, and relevant to the work that we all do in this field. Some were suggested by our organizational friends who belong to the Elder Justice League, while others were carefully chosen for their importance to our work. A special thanks to graphic designer Nancy Oatts, a friend of elder justice, who designed the #16for2016 logo and shareable images.
In this blog post, we recap all of the resources that we shared through #16for2016 campaign, and added some of our other favorite elder justice and elder abuse awareness resources. Thank you to all of you who helped to make this campaign a success by engaging with us, and sharing our posts.
16 for 2016 WEAAD Campaign Recap
Day 1 – Administration for Community Living: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) Microsite
The Administration for Community Living’s highly engaging World Elder Abuse Awareness Day microsite supports people and organizations in raising awareness about WEAAD.
Day 2 – The National Adult Protective Services Resource Center (NAPSRC): Two-Part Report
NAPSRC has released a 2-part report on emerging research and innovative practices, with a focus on elder financial abuse, tailored for Adult Protective Services professionals. This report helps to bridge the gap between theory and real-world applications of research.
Day 3 – The National Center on Elder Abuse: Mistreatment of African American Elders
African American Elders are not often the focus of research. The National Center on Elder Abuse has created a research brief related to the mistreatment of African American elders, particularly financial and psychological abuse.
Day 4 – University of Southern California: Training Resources on Elder Abuse
Explore this searchable database of elder abuse training materials to discover a plethora of trainings that are otherwise challenging to locate. This database was designed for professionals, caregivers and the community, and inspired by the Elder Justice Roadmap.
Day 5 – Generations: The Pernicious Problems of Ageism
Generations’ focus on ageism was inspired by a new study that provides powerful insights into how the public views older adults. As the study shows, the public’s perception of elders is negative and out of date.The goal of this article is to reframe how the public views aging, so that improvements across services, policies, and opportunities for older adults can be perceived as not only possible, but also desirable.
Day 6 – Associated Financial Vulnerability: An Emerging Public Health Issue
This editorial offers a new explanation regarding the dynamics of elder financial abuse and makes the argument as to why this problem should be highlighted as a public health issue. Our own Dr. Lachs of Weill Cornell is interviewed.
Day 7 – The National Center on Elder Abuse: State Elder Abuse Working Groups
This report offers a rare review and comparison of 15 state elder abuse working groups and provides insight for those seeking to replicate various models.
Day 8 – Department of Justice (DOJ) Elder Justice Website
Department of Justice (DOJ) Elder Justice Website is leading the field as a resource for victims of elder financial abuse, their families, and the professionals who serve them including invaluable resources for prosecutors.
Day 9 – American Bar Association: PRACTICAL Tool
Thanks to the American Bar Association for creating the PRACTICAL Tool for identifying and implementing decision-making options that are less restrictive than guardianship. This tool enables attorneys to use instruments that are better tailored to their client’s needs.
Day 10 – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau(CFPF) : Advisory and Report
Employees of financial institutions are often in a unique position to spot the warning signs of elder abuse, but there is little information to support them in taking action to intervene in these cases. CFPF has created and advisory and report that provide much needed information on how financial institutions can better protect older consumers from financial abuse.
NCALL has been the sole technical assistance provider on the intersection of domestic violence, sexual assault, and elder abuse for the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) since 1999. Through this unique collaboration the two organizations have created a summary report that provides guiding principles for advocates who work with older survivors of abuse and hyperlinks to 34 educational videos.
Day 12 – John A. Hartford Foundation: Change AGEnts Issue Brief
A result of two convenings on elder abuse, this issue brief lays out the current challenges and opportunities within the field of the elder justice and offers up-to-date and relevant information about the needs of intersecting systems that serve older adults.
Day 13 – National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL): Reclaiming What is Sacred: Addressing Harm to Indigenous Elders and Developing a Tribal Response to Abuse in Later Life
Tribal elder abuse information is scarce. This resource from NCALL seeks to fill that gap with intelligent recommendations on how to create meaningful responses to abuse in later life, born from a listening session with tribal leaders.
Day 14 – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Elder Abuse Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Core Data Elements
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a diverse group of elder abuse experts have collaboratively produced Elder Abuse Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Core Data Elements to establish unified definitions and data points to be used to better understand elder abuse nationally. Currently, the lack of standardized definitions and data create deficits in the field.
Watch out world – the Elder Justice League is here! The League represents organizations raising awareness about elder abuse across social media platforms, and taking elder justice conversations mainstream.
As always, we hope to be a resource to you. Please see the bonus material and additional resources below for information that goes beyond #16for2016.
More Resources We Love
These are a few bonus resources for elder justice and elder abuse professionals. They range from a strategic roadmap of resources, to the major listserv in our field, to professional publications and resources for our work.
Elder Justice Roadmap
Created with the input of experts and stakeholders from across the country, the Roadmap is a strategic resource — by the field and for the field — to combat elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation. The report identifies and prioritizes actions that direct service providers, educators, and researchers can take to benefit older adults facing abuse, neglect or financial exploitation. Likewise, it provides a roadmap for strategic investment and engagement by policymakers in both the public and private sectors to advance our collective efforts to prevent and combat elder abuse at the local, state and national levels.
ELder Abuse MDTs: Planning for the future
On September 8, 2014, elder justice experts and funders in the field gathered in New York City to reflect on the value of MDTs and discuss how to sustain and replicate them nationwide as part of a broader movement for elder justice. This publication captures key observations, questions and recommendations from that daylong symposium, supplemented with additional detail and background information.
NCEA’s Elder Abuse Listserve
The goal of the ElderAbuse listserv is to provide a forum for students and professionals who have a scholarly and/or professional interest in an area of elder mistreatment, neglect, and exploitation. Subscribers may either share or solicit pertinent news, events and opportunities relevant to topic areas.
Stalking in Later Life – National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL)
This recorded webinar provides an understanding of the dynamics of stalking, explore the challenges faced by victims of stalking in later life, and provide professionals with considerations for working with older stalking victims. (Video)
By Risa Breckman, Director, NYCEAC and Talitha Guinn, Social Media Manager, NYCEAC. Graphic design by Nancy Oatts, Elder Justice Advocate.
No one cares about elder abuse. I’ve lived it. The police the attorneys . This is a joke.