Preliminary Outcomes From a Community-Based Elder Abuse Risk and Evaluation Tool

This research addresses the need to develop an assessment tool for case workers working in the aging services field outside of APS. As such, the research discusses the development, implementation, and preliminary outcomes of the Elder Abuse Risk Assessment and Evaluation© tool (EARAE). This instrument was developed and pilot tested by the Elder Abuse Prevention Program (EAPP), a program within Lifespan of Greater Rochester Inc. in Rochester, New York. A total of 189 suspected elder mistreatment cases were investigated using the EARAE instrument to track elements at the start and close of each case. Results indicate the tool represents an effective way to capture abuse indicators, track contributing risk factors, measure multiple case outcomes, and track types of interventions utilized. Opportunities and limitations of the tool are also discussed.