Abstract

ALMEIDA, Inês Filipa Santos; SANTOS, César Lares dos  and  VIEIRA, Duarte Nuno. Elder abuse and the role of health professionals. Rev Port Med Geral Fam [online]. 2020, vol.36, n.1, pp.24-34. ISSN 2182-5173.  https://doi.org/10.32385/rpmgf.v36i1.12489.

Objectives: Analyze the professionals' perspective on elder abuse and to explore the difficulties they experience in addressing this type of situation. Furthermore, a review was made on some fundamental concepts related to this subject. Data sources: Research in the following databases PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Scientific Repositories of Open Access of Portugal and OpenAIRE. It was also consulted Code of Conduct of the Portuguese Medical Association, Code of Conduct of Nurses, Portuguese Penal Code and the information provided in the websites of the World Health Organization, General-Directorate of Health and the Portuguese Association for Victim Support. Review methods: Database research by combining the following terms: elder abuse; mistreatment; elderly; health professionals; health personnel; health care personnel; Portugal. Results: Thirty-two original scientific articles, published between 2010 and 2018, all of which were available in Portuguese and/or English, with content directed to the proposed objectives. Conclusions: Lacks in detection and management by health professionals of abusive situations against the elderly may be associated with deficits in education on this topic, thus it is crucial to improve curricular content. Training should focus on situations that may be considered abusive, associated signs and symptoms, the context in which abuse may occur, the existing legislation and entities that may provide assistance. In addition, public awareness should be promoted, emphasizing the importance of early detection and identifying institutions that provide support to the vulnerable elderly.

Keywords : Elder abuse; Aged; Health personnel; Portugal.

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