| Summary: |
Despite the growing visibility of elder abuse as both a social [3] and a public health problem [14], little attention has
been paid to the relationship between elder abuse and the socio-economic crisis that currently affects all Europe
and Portugal in particular. Portuguese scholars have been focusing either on the analysis of the prevalence of the
Formulário Portugal 2020 Página 13 de 25
501413197 :: UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO
phenomenon or on the dynamics of violence experienced by victims aged 60 and over [9] [2] [22] [7]. Several studies
have pointed to some risk factors associated to elder abuse: socio-economic inequalities [7]; the lack of social and
familial support network; the decline of general health [15] [22]. The starting point of this project is the need to fill in the
gap on elder abuse studies by focusing on the effects of the socio-economic crisis. The broad research hypothesis
is that the recent economic recession has both indirect and direct effects on elder abuse: on one hand, it shows
and interactive effect that increases the risk for those that are already at structural risk; on the other hand, it brings
additional strain that translates into increased prevalence.
The research project will start from the EPIPorto database. EPIPorto is a cohort of 2485 adult residents in Porto, an
urban center in the northwest of Portugal, which was assembled between 1999 and 2003 [20] [21]. The first followup
evaluation of this cohort was carried from 2005 to 2008 and 66% (n = 1640) of the total cohort was re-evaluated
[19]. The second follow-up is now in progress (2014-2015). This research proposal will create the conditions for the
next wave of the study in 2016-2018. It will focus on the elderly participants from the initial cohort with the specific
purpose of: reassessing their socio-economic conditions and testing if the decline or deterioration of those has had
any impact on to the occurrence of aggressive and abusive behavior (eg physical  |
Summary
Despite the growing visibility of elder abuse as both a social [3] and a public health problem [14], little attention has
been paid to the relationship between elder abuse and the socio-economic crisis that currently affects all Europe
and Portugal in particular. Portuguese scholars have been focusing either on the analysis of the prevalence of the
Formulário Portugal 2020 Página 13 de 25
501413197 :: UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO
phenomenon or on the dynamics of violence experienced by victims aged 60 and over [9] [2] [22] [7]. Several studies
have pointed to some risk factors associated to elder abuse: socio-economic inequalities [7]; the lack of social and
familial support network; the decline of general health [15] [22]. The starting point of this project is the need to fill in the
gap on elder abuse studies by focusing on the effects of the socio-economic crisis. The broad research hypothesis
is that the recent economic recession has both indirect and direct effects on elder abuse: on one hand, it shows
and interactive effect that increases the risk for those that are already at structural risk; on the other hand, it brings
additional strain that translates into increased prevalence.
The research project will start from the EPIPorto database. EPIPorto is a cohort of 2485 adult residents in Porto, an
urban center in the northwest of Portugal, which was assembled between 1999 and 2003 [20] [21]. The first followup
evaluation of this cohort was carried from 2005 to 2008 and 66% (n = 1640) of the total cohort was re-evaluated
[19]. The second follow-up is now in progress (2014-2015). This research proposal will create the conditions for the
next wave of the study in 2016-2018. It will focus on the elderly participants from the initial cohort with the specific
purpose of: reassessing their socio-economic conditions and testing if the decline or deterioration of those has had
any impact on to the occurrence of aggressive and abusive behavior (eg physical abuse, verbal, financial, neglect);
analyzing general health indicators and their effects as determinants of vulnerability towards abuse; characterizing
the neighborhoods where individuals live, according to their socio-economic status, in order to identify risk factors
associated with these areas.
As part of the research goals, we also plan to assess whether there was a change in prevalence, dynamics and
type of abuse among individuals that have participated in the EPIPorto cohort [20] [21] and were analyzed under
the project "Abuse of the elderly in the European region" (Abuel) [22]. This is the cross-sectional European study of
community-dwelling elderly populations aged 60-84 years in Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain and
Sweden, carried out from January to July 2009 [11]. Additionally, this project will involve a qualitative study designed
to allow for an in-depth analysis of victimization trajectories of the elderly whose abusive situations were identified
in 2009 [7] and to assess whether there was a change of abuse conditions, what has changed and why. Qualitative
interviews will be organized with a purposive sample of abused individuals. The topics that will be addressed during
the interviews include: changes in profiles of abuse and perpetrators and their association with the economic crisis; the
worsening of health conditions and physical and/or cognitive dependence; relationships with carers and co-residents.
In short, by combining a quantitative with qualitative approach the goal is to discuss what we argue is a cluster effect
of accumulation of socio-economic dis |
| Results: |
Henriques, A., Talih, M., Pastor‐Valero, M., Fraga, S., Dias, I., Matijasevich, A., & Barros, H. (2021). A multidimensional perspective of the relation between social isolation and depression among Portuguese older adults. Health & Social Care in the Community, Vol. 30, Issue 4, pp. 1412-1421. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13471 10.1111/hsc.13471
Sampaio J., Henriques A., Dias I., Lopes A., Ramos E., Fraga S. (2022). The influence of social adversity on perceived health status and depressive symptoms among older people. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH), 19(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116355
Dias, I., Henriques, A., Lopes, A., Lemos, R., Barros, H., & Fraga, S. (2022). Abuse among Portuguese older people at a time of economic crisis recovery: findings from the Harmed study. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, 1-15. Publisher: Routledge. DOI: 10.1080/08946566.2022.2039338 |