Neighborhood Disadvantage and Refusal of Formal Services Among Cases Reported to Adult Protection Services

Abstract

Research suggests that certain factors influence the way caregivers of older adults experience the role of caretaker. Aspects of the caregiving experience that have been considered include factors influencing decisions to seek services, causes of caregiver burden, and the relationship between caregiver burden and maltreatment. Most of this research has focused on characteristics of caregivers and how these individual characteristics influence the caregiving experience and subsequent maltreatment. Very little research, however, has examined the influence of contextual factors on the caregiving experience. This study considers how neighborhood context influences decisions to reject formal services among cases reported to Adult Protective Services. A specific focus is given to caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's and related diseases.

KEYWORDS:

• Elder abuse
• adult protective services
• social disadvantage

Notes

This study was supported by an award from the Virginia Alzheimer's Research Award Fund.

Note. *p < .05;

**p < .01;

***p < .10.

1. There are 88 census tracts in Virginia Beach, 83 in Norfolk, and 38 in Chesapeake (total n = 209).

2. There were only six cases coded Asian and six coded “other”. Because of the very few cases these were excluded from further analyses.

3. We use the terms census tracts and neighborhoods interchangeably in this paper, because although we understand that tracts are not perfect indicators of neighborhoods, they are often viewed as the best measure of neighborhoods available.

4. Because theory and other research strongly suggests that those in disadvantaged communities are less likely to rely on formal services, we explored this relationship further by breaking down disadvantage into various categories and use crosstabs to explore the data further. We found no evidence for a relationship. The criminological literature focuses mainly on adult samples, and not necessarily the elderly and that may explain the differences in our findings.

5. See http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/51/5116000.html