Addressing Elder Abuse in Rural Areas

Research center:
Lead researcher:
Research staff:
Project funded:
September 2023
Anticipated completion date:
October 2024

Elder abuse, including financial, physical, and emotional abuse, as well as self-neglect, is too common and has serious implications for the health and well-being of older adults. Rural residents are older, on average, than urban residents, and rural older adults are in poorer health and have higher rates of disabilities than urban older adults. This may make rural older adults a more common target of elder abuse; however, little is known about rural/urban differences in the extent of elder abuse. Even less is known about within-rural differences in elder abuse by socio-demographic and geographic factors (e.g., differences by race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, and region). This project will address those important gaps using two national data sources combined with qualitative data from a series of key informant interviews.


Publications