The PICOT question

The PICOT question in this literature review is the prevalence of risk and associated factors and implementation of a strategy to ensure the elder abuse does not take place in All Heart Homecare Agency. Therefore, to create change, the organization provides homecare services to most parts of New York City households. In this regard, eight peer-reviewed research articles regarding the topic were analyzed based on the literature evaluation structure. Below is a comparison of their different aspects.

Comparison of research questions

According to Corbi et al. (2015), the neglect and abuse of the elderly as a topic continues to be overlooked in the literature. However, these challenges exist and are constantly increasing. Thus, according to Plati et al. (2016), besides the need for care, they require an environment where the risk of abuse is reduced. When trying to form the basis for addressing these challenges, All Heart Homecare Agency understands there is still a gap in understanding abusive behaviors conducted by their caregivers. These individuals are hardly noticed in healthcare organizations (Orfila et al., 2018). Furthermore, little literature exists about the abuse of elders in the LGBT community. Generally, from the four articles, the literature on elderly abuse has been avoided by literature, which informs the desire to provide efficient homecare services at All Heart Homecare Agency.

            According to Danielak (2016), All Heart Homecare Agency needs current interventions to ensure financial aspects of elderly abuse are addressed. The prevalence of these abuses can be addressed through strategic interventions by both government and the people. The World Health Organization finds out that elder abuse can result in serious long term problems both psychologically and physically. In that regard, All Heart Homecare Agency is working with different other organizations to deliver efficient care services to their clients. From the figures, they have recorded severe effects on the elderly with whom they interact. Kathy’s Law relates the protection of domestic violence according to the Act of 1994 on the same. This Law prevents the All Heart Homecare Agency from inhibiting adult exploitation (Office of Children and Family Services). Therefore, the agency ensures to follow the law strictly.

Comparison of Sample Populations

The first article utilizes a sample of 78 participants in different medical resource centers, including materials from recognized journals. In the second article, a conglomeration of scholarly journal articles is used as reference sources that guide its findings and results. In the third article, a sample of 829 primary healthcare team members from Spain and Barcelona were used. In the fourth article, 26 senior centers devoted to LGBT older adults were chosen. The fifth article used New York State as the sample, where All Heart Homecare Agency operates, while the sixth article used institutions such as hospitals, schools, and other amenities to provide data for the research. The seventh article uses the WHO database, while the last one used Kathy’s Law and the Family Protection and Domestic Violence Act of 1994.

Comparison of the Limitations of the Study

The first article only focused on the nursing role in elderly abuse and did not provide the whole spectrum of understanding the topic. This limits All Heart Homecare Agency’s ability to understand the issues they should seek to address. The second article failed to provide causal relationships between demographical differences and how they manifest in elderlies’ families. In the third article, the severe dependency on caregivers among older people due to cognitive impairment has been acknowledged at All Heart Homecare Agency. Therefore, the results are only applicable to older adults, characterized by similar factors. In the fourth article, law enforcement agencies were also involved in abuse, which would have been the best source of information for the agency. In the fifth article, financial elder abuse lacked back up by data. In the sixth article, the physical injuries and long-term psychological consequences were not developed further to understand the real effect. In the seventh article, addressing the problems in cultural contexts is inconsiderate of the differences among each elderly individual. The government might have to spend a fortune on addressing each of the persons’ problems personally. These are challenges that our caregivers at All Heart Homecare Agency have come to understand.

Conclusion and Recommendation for Further Research

From the literature review, general key findings demonstrate inadequate information and literature regarding elderly abuse. From the available information, financial exploitation is the most prevalent. Due to these challenges, most elderly adults are abused, which leads to physical and psychological damage in them. Additionally, some elderly adults have a cognitive impairment, which drives their overreliance on caregivers for their survival. In that regard, a relationship has to be established such as that ensured by All Heart Homecare Agency, whereby the elderly can utilize the services of caregivers without being exploited or abused. This will involve the government through the formation of regulations that will restrict caregivers through legal measures.

            However, the intervention may lack ground due to the complexity of quantifying these instances. Therefore, it would be the responsibility of the government to understand how these abuse instances occur and the regulations applicable to control them. In that regard, future research can focus on establishing the causal relationships between elderly abuse and gender, sexual orientation, race, economic status, and local governance. Research in these fields will provide findings and results that will help us as All Heart Homecare Agency and the government structure laws and practices that support the older adults across the United States and perhaps beyond.

References

Bloemen, E. M., Rosen, T., LoFaso, V. M., Lasky, A., Church, S., Hall, P., … & Clark, S. (2019). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Older Adults’ Experiences With Elder Abuse and Neglect. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 67(11), 2338-2345.

Corbi, G., Grattagliano, I., Ivshina, E., Ferrara, N., Cipriano, A. S., & Campobasso, C. P. (2015). Elderly abuse: risk factors and nursing role. Internal and emergency medicine, 10(3), 297-303.

Danielak, D. (2016). Financial Elder Abuse: New York State Prevalence, Interventions, & Future Directions.

Office of Children and Family Services. Adult protective services. www.ocfs.ny.gov/main/psa/professionals.asp#healthcare

Orfila, F., Coma-Solé, M., Cabanas, M., Cegri-Lombardo, F., Moleras-Serra, A., & Pujol-Ribera, E. (2018). Family caregiver mistreatment of the elderly: prevalence of risk and associated factors. BMC public health, 18(1), 167.

Plati, P., Karioti, A., Monios, A., & Kourkouta, L. (2016). Prevention of elder abuse. International Journal of Recent Trends in Engineering & Research (IJRTER), 2, 276-281.

World Health Organization. (2016). Elder abuse (No. WPR/2016/DNH/010). Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.

World Health Organization. (2018). Aging and Life Course World Health Organization.