Elder abuse education in residency programs: how well are we doing?

Purpose: To understand whether education is at the heart of underreporting elder abuse by surveying Michigan residency program directors to learn about their elder abuse curricula.

Method: In 2006, a questionnaire was mailed to 71 residency program directors in Michigan. Participants responded to closed-ended or Likert-type items about program demographics, elder abuse curricula, desire for additional related program materials, and related clinical experience.

Results: Results are based on 41 usable responses, for a response rate of 58%. Elder abuse education played a major role in residency curricula in more than a third of all programs (15/41). Of the 31 programs that had elder abuse lectures, 77% (24/31) required attendance at lectures. Sixty-one percent (25/41) expressed a need to learn more about screening tools, and more than half (23/41) did not use a screening assessment tool in their clinical care. Of desired additional materials, respondents most frequently requested screening tools at 63.4% (26/41). With elder abuse reporting, 61% (25/41) rated their experience with Adult Protective Services (APS) as "poor." Those curricula with the most elder abuse content topics experienced a more positive relationship with APS than those with fewer.

Conclusions: Elder abuse education is not a consistent or highly prioritized topic in many primary care residency programs. Standardized educational goals and clinical experiences would help educate residents. Many participants voiced a need for additional educational materials, especially around screening, suggesting that future research should focus on the development of valid reliable elder abuse screening tools or protocols specific to medical settings.