Pilot testing the detection of elder abuse through emergency care technicians (DETECT) screening tool: results from the DETECT pilot project

ABSTRACT

Objective: To pilot test the feasibility of implementing an elder abuse (EA) screening tool (DETECT) designed for medics.

Methods: Testing occurred between September 17th, 2015 and October 26th, 2015. MedStar Mobile Healthcare medics completed the DETECT tool when responding to calls for community-dwelling patients 65 years of age or older.

Results: The DETECT tool was used 1,248 times by 97% of medics responding to an eligible 911 call. Medics responded affirmatively to at least one screening item on 209 of the completed screenings (16.8%). Immediately following the introduction of the DETECT tool, there was an increase of 5.4 (226% above baseline) reports per month (p = 0.0056).

Conclusions: The DETECT tool was easily incorporated into medic’s field-based practice and resulted in an increase in medic generated reports of EA to APS. Future research designed to evaluate the tool’s validity and reliability are warranted.

KEYWORDS:

• Elder Abuse
• EMS
• Screening

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge MedStar Mobile Healthcare, Texas Adult Protective Services, John Farris, Amanda Robbins, and the Fort Worth Safe Communities Coalition for their continuing support and dedication in this project.

Author contribution statement

BC and JMRG conceived of the study, obtained funding for the study, supervised the conduct of the study and data collection. MBC and DL analyzed the data. JW assisted BC with the conceptual framework of the manuscript as well as with refining interpretation of the results. BC, JMRG, JW, KKJ, and RA drafted the manuscript, and all authors contributed substantially to its revision.

Conflicts of interest

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by Award No. 2014-MU-CX-0102, awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.