A randomized-control trial testing the impact of a multidisciplinary team response to older adult maltreatment

ABSTRACT

Forensic center multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) have emerged to address older adult maltreatment; however, little research is available on this approach. The current study employed a randomized-control design to test the impact of a victim-focused, forensic center MDT relative to usual care (UC) on older adult victim and criminal justice outcomes. Cases of abuse, neglect, and/or financial exploitation involving a perpetrator in a position of trust were randomly assigned to MDT or UC. Outcomes were assessed via interviews with older adult victims, system-based advocates' surveys, and administrative data. According to system-based advocates, MDT had a better prognosis, higher across-agency coordination, and more types of engaged services relative to UC. Administrative data indicated low rates of APS case openings and prosecution. Findings provide support for continued use of MDTs following older adult maltreatment and highlight difficulties engaging older adults given the complex social and material circumstances often related to maltreatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Forensic center
• multidisciplinary team
• older adult abuse
• elder abuse

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Denver Forensic Collaborative for their collaboration, particularly Maro Casparian (Denver District Attorney’s Office), Linda Loflin Pettit (Denver City Attorney’s Office), and Whitney Nettleton (Denver Adult Protective Services) as well as graduate students for their input, especially Tejas Srinivas and Kerry Gagnon. A description of these findings was included in a Summary Overview Report to the National Institute of Justice.

Notes

1. We also examined collapsing time and using only random effect models; however, this did not alter the results.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Justice [Grant #2013-MU-CX-0032]. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or the official position of the National Institute of Justice or any other organization.