Older Victims of Abuse: Understanding Help-Seeking in an Understudied Population

The abuse of older adults by someone in a position of trust, also known as elder abuse (EA), is a prevalent and impactful problem worldwide that often goes unreported. The current study investigated EA victims’ help-seeking, including barriers and facilitators to help-seeking, sources of reporting and responses, and attitudes toward intervention. The study utilized secondary data from a UK EA helpline, with 1623 cases examined through a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative content analysis, descriptive statistics, and logistic regression. Data were gathered on victim, perpetrator and abuse characteristics, and victims’ help-seeking. Victims faced a wide range of barriers to seeking help, particularly in relation to their social network, and sometimes due to the perpetrator’s influence. Attitudes toward external help were mixed and victims had a variety of goals that they were seeking from intervention. Cases where victims were female, younger, experiencing mental health problems, or suffering psychological abuse, were more likely to be self-reported.