Changing systems to address elder abuse: examples from aging services, the courts, the long-term care ombudsman, and the faith community.

The authors describe their use of systems change as a means of ameliorating elder abuse. After assessing the needs of their target audiences, projects developed a variety of strategies. These include disseminating promising practices in courts, creating Elder Law Clinics to assist with conservatorships, educating older adults about predatory mortgage lending, building a new response system for complaints of abuse and neglect in unlicensed care facilities, and convening clergy and lay leader groups to learn how faith communities can make a difference in elder abuse and neglect.

The Bet Tzedek legal services model: how a legal services model addresses elder abuse and neglect.

Bet Tzedek, Hebrew for the "House of Justice," provides free legal assistance to older adults in Los Angeles County. Their civil attorneys work alongside prosecutors and service providers for the elderly as members of multidisciplinary teams to assist older adults with complicated elder abuse and neglect cases. Case examples demonstrate how civil attorneys collaborate with the Los Angeles County Elder Abuse Forensic Center to address financial abuse, real estate fraud, and self-neglect issues.