No More Shame Study

Elder abuse ravages the lives of older people, decreases quality of life, and increases mortality risk by 40%. Although a common cause of deteriorating mental and physical health in older people, it often goes unreported and undetected. Older people are ashamed to disclose it; health providers do not know how to ask about it.

The No More Shame study aims to address the stigma of elder abuse that underlies these current reactions by improving its recognition, response, and referral by health providers. This intervention will comprise a co-designed training program for health providers who work with older people in hospitals.

The outcomes are significant and measurable improvements in health providers’ knowledge of elder abuse and ageist attitudes; hospitals’ detection and responses to elder abuse; and older people’s sense of safety, quality of life, and mental health.

This study will realise a key priority for the Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Mission, which is to create models of care that maximise medical, nursing and allied health impact to improve quality of life for older Australians. With 14.8% of older Australians experiencing elder abuse, health providers play a vital role in helping elder abuse victims realise that they have nothing to be ashamed of and to create a safe environment for reporting and response. Realising these outcomes, ours will be one of the few high quality elder abuse trials in the world.