To Örebro University

Purpose: This Round Table will provide a forum for researchers and practitioners to discuss issues of elder maltreatment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to help promote a better understanding of elder maltreatment’s risk and protective factors and its prevention. The inputs provided by participants will allow for ane xamination of the definition and measurement of elder maltreatment with attention to specific forms of vulnerabilities to maltreatment that are more commonly associated with aging, such as financial exploitation, participation restrictions and social exclusion. The risk and protective factors to elder maltreatment at individual (e.g., memory, decision making), interactional/societal (e.g., role of trusted others, caregiver training), and contextual levels (e.g., ageism, protections available, resources, health care collaboration) will be identified. The physical and mental health consequences of maltreatment, the prevention and intervention needs, and the development and implementation of research-informed training strategies for building individual abilities for active prevention of maltreatment will also be discussed.

Rationale: Individuals with IDD represent a fast-growing segment of the population of older adults. The phenomenon of aging for older adults with IDD is extremely complex, with chronic age-related impacts on functioning and greater dependency on others. Research documents high rates of maltreatment worldwide. Despite increasing awareness of elder maltreatment as a growing social problem, the understanding of elder maltreatment for older adults with IDD is still limited, particularly around effective measures to prevent or reduce the harmful consequences of maltreatment.

Summary: The discussion will provide an improved understanding of the issues of elder maltreatment and challenges for older adults with IDD by sharing research and clinical perspectives. It will help identify key priorities in research and practice aimed at risk mitigation of maltreatment in older adults with IDD while fostering a greater commitment to providing essential identification and prevention resources in this important area.