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Open research questions in Elder Abuse and Neglect

239 gap statements mined from Elder Abuse and Neglect papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,110 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • There is a lack of understanding of the relationship between psychological abuse and cognitive impairment among rural older adults in China. Prior studies have focused on urban areas, leaving a gap in knowledge about rural areas.

    Levels of psychological abuse and their relationship with possible cognitive impairment among rural older adults in China: a cross-sectional study using latent profile analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • Further studies are needed to explore the relationship between cognitive impairment and elder abuse. Longitudinal studies could be conducted to examine the causal relationship between cognitive impairment and elder abuse. Studies could be conducted in other regions to examine the generalizability of the results.

    Levels of psychological abuse and their relationship with possible cognitive impairment among rural older adults in China: a cross-sectional study using latent profile analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on the development of an easy-to-use and accessible tool that nurses can implement to appropriately manage elder abuse.

    Interventional Strategies and Educational Programmes to Guide Nurses in the Management of Elder Abuse: A Scoping Review · 2026 · DOI

  • Introduction Elder abuse remains under-recognized in emergency department (ED) settings, in part due to the lack of brief, practical screening tools that can be integrated into fast-paced clinical workflows.

    Development of an Elder Abuse Recognition (EAR) screening tool for use in the emergency department · 2026 · DOI

  • The study highlights the challenge of lack of financial and digital literacy among the elderly.

    Gestão financeira: análise do comportamento financeiro e da propensão ao endividamento entre idosos. · 2026 · DOI

  • The study has a small sample size, with only five idosos interviewed. The study is limited to the context of São Luís -MA.

    Gestão financeira: análise do comportamento financeiro e da propensão ao endividamento entre idosos. · 2026 · DOI

  • The study notes that mistreatment remains poorly recognized by clinicians. The compounding effects of multisensory loss can make it difficult to identify and address elder mistreatment. The study had to account for differences in the multisensory impairment measure across rounds of data collection.

    Sensory Impairment and Risk of Elder Mistreatment in Community‐Dwelling Older Adults · 2026 · DOI

  • The study notes that elder abuse is a complex and intersectional issue. The study highlights the need for multidisciplinary preventive frameworks to address elder abuse.

    Correlates of Elder Abuse in São Paulo, Brazil: The Roles of Age, Depression, and Religion · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of understanding of public attitudes toward EFFE, which can inform help-seeking and stakeholder engagement. Prior studies have not included the public domain as a constitutive part in the awareness of EFFE. There is a need to examine the nature of public discourse about EFFE using NLP methods.

    Behind Closed Doors, in Public View: Attitudes Toward Elder Family Financial Exploitation Based on Social Media · 2026 · DOI

  • Importantly, future studies should consider the FEVS-SF as a standalone measure, as in this study participants responded to the full 17-item measure from which the short-form scores were then derived. Finally, future studies should examine other forms of reliability and validity including criterion validity by examining the measure’s alignment with confirmed cases of FE.

    Evaluating the Hebrew version of the financial exploitation vulnerability scale · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research might consider including men, victims aged 80 years and older, individuals with poorer health, or those reliant on care.

    “How did I get here?”: a qualitative life-course analysis of Australian women’s experiences of elder abuse · 2026 · DOI

  • Lack of evidence on which legal rules deter FEPOA abuse and warrant inclusion in nationally consistent laws. Knowledge gaps and risky practices must be addressed separately from the slow law reform process. Deficiencies in knowledge and practices that create risks of financial abuse via FEPOAs.

    Preventing Financial Elder Abuse: A Critical Commentary on Harmonisation of Enduring Power of Attorney Laws · 2026 · DOI

  • There are challenges in addressing the broader social and economic pressures faced by older Australians. The study highlights the need for a comprehensive and coordinated approach to addressing elder abuse.

    Recommendation Déjà Vu? A Review of Australian Reports, Inquiries and Commissions Around Preventing Elder Abuse · 2026 · DOI

  • Significant gaps remain in public awareness, legal enforcement, service accessibility, and systematic data collection. There is an absence of specific elder abuse legislation. The study highlights challenges in policy implementation and suggests areas for improvement.

    Prevention of elder abuse in Norway: analyzing policies through Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework · 2026 · DOI

  • Little is known about how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+) adults experience these processes, but a range of factors may place them at greater risk of abuse, particularly due to hostility, discrimination, and inequalities.

    ‘Of course we knew, but we didn’t talk about it’: Valuing LGBTQ+ lives in safeguarding adults · 2026 · DOI

  • Financial decision-making power is a significant and potentially modifiable factor associated with mental health among older adults, representing an underexplored pathway for promoting healthy aging, with effects partially mediated through ADL and leisure engagement.

    Financial decision-making power and mental well-being in older adults: a nationwide longitudinal cohort study in China · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies the challenge of detecting abuse in mental health records, particularly in cases where patients may not disclose abuse. The study notes the importance of addressing organisational issues, such as lack of time or discomfort, that may hinder the disclosure of abuse.

    The association between older adult abuse and emergency department attendance and mental health service use · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of understanding of the mechanisms of physical frailty and social frailty between elderly abuse and anxiety symptoms. The study aims to fill this gap by exploring the association between elderly abuse and anxiety symptoms among older adults in China.

    Elderly abuse and anxiety symptoms among older adults in China: the mechanism of physical frailty and social frailty · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited evidence suggested that home visiting and behavioral counseling interventions addressing multiple risk factors may lead to reduced IPV among pregnant or postpartum women.

    Screening for Intimate Partner Violence and for Caregiver Abuse of Older or Vulnerable Adults · 2025 · DOI

  • Despite declines in financial ability with age and dementia, research has not explored older adults' metacognitive awareness of such declines.

    Relationship Between Perceived and Objective Financial Abilities Among Older Adults: Results From the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly Cohort · 2025 · DOI

  • While some research exists on women who have survived attempted intimate partner homicide (IPH), studies focusing on survivors aged 60 years and older and how they cope with health concerns remain scarce.

    Health challenges of older women following attempted intimate partner homicide · 2025 · DOI

  • New initiatives seek to capitalize on opportunities to respond to EA from within the healthcare system, but little is known about what clinicians may need to be successful in these efforts.

    Healthcare Clinicians’ Perspectives on Managing Suspected Elder Abuse: “We Don’t Want to Just Swoop in and Do What We Think Is Best” · 2025 · DOI

  • The study used a cross-sectional design, - The sample was limited to community-dwelling older adults in São Paulo, - The study did not assess sexual abuse, systemic neglect…

    Correlates of Elder Abuse in São Paulo, Brazil: The Roles of Age, Depression, and Religion · 2026 · DOI

  • Utilizing other social media platforms to examine public attitudes toward EFFE, - Examining the effectiveness of different interventions in preventing…

    Behind Closed Doors, in Public View: Attitudes Toward Elder Family Financial Exploitation Based on Social Media · 2026 · DOI

  • Fear of disclosure could result in patients who had experienced abuse being classified in the control group, - Organisational issues such as a lack of time, discomfort, or unfamiliarity specifically in domestic violence ascertainment may affect…

    The association between older adult abuse and emergency department attendance and mental health service use · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Elder Abuse and Neglect

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) There is a lack of understanding of the relationship between psychological abuse and cognitive impairment among rural older adults in China (“Levels of psychological abuse and their relationship with possible cognitive…”, 2026); (2) Future research should focus on the development of an easy-to-use and accessible tool that nurses can implement to appropriately manage elder abuse (“Interventional Strategies and Educational Programmes to Guide Nurses in the…”, 2026); (3) Introduction Elder abuse remains under-recognized in emergency department (ED) settings, in part due to the lack of brief, practical screening tools that can be integrated into fast-paced clinical workflows (“Development of an Elder Abuse Recognition (EAR) screening tool for use in the…”, 2026); (4) The study highlights the challenge of lack of financial and digital literacy among the elderly (“Gestão financeira: análise do comportamento financeiro e da propensão ao…”, 2026); (5) There is a lack of understanding of public attitudes toward EFFE, which can inform help-seeking and stakeholder engagement (“Behind Closed Doors, in Public View: Attitudes Toward Elder Family Financial…”, 2026). 239 gap statements have been mined from Elder Abuse and Neglect papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,110 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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