Ernst Joy Swanson, Ramsey-Klawsnik Holly, Schillerstrom Jason E, Dayton Carol, Mixson Paula, Counihan Mary
a Department of Sociology and Social Work , Hood College , Frederick , Maryland , USA.
J Elder Abuse Negl. 2014;26(5):458-94. doi: 10.1080/08946566.2013.832605.
The mission of Adult Protective Services (APS) is to protect older and vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The complexity of APS cases and the potential for life-changing interventions point to the need for research that examines and evaluates APS practices. A literature review identified 50 studies published during a 16-year period that used APS agencies, clients, data, or resources to test hypotheses regarding elder abuse. The analysis revealed promising efforts toward knowledge development about elder mistreatment and self-neglect. This article provides an overview of salient findings, notes the scarcity of studies that analyze the effectiveness of APS, and highlights the need for additional research. Lessons learned are described, and APS practitioners and researchers are urged to work collaboratively to develop key practice-related questions about APS processes and outcomes that can be tested with appropriate research methodologies.
成人保护服务（APS）的使命是保护老年人和弱势成年人免受虐待、忽视和剥削。APS案件的复杂性以及改变生活的干预措施的可能性表明，需要开展研究来审视和评估APS的做法。一项文献综述发现，在16年期间发表了50项研究，这些研究利用APS机构、客户、数据或资源来检验关于虐待老年人的假设。分析揭示了在老年人虐待和自我忽视知识发展方面的积极努力。本文概述了主要研究结果，指出分析APS有效性的研究稀缺，并强调了进一步研究的必要性。文中描述了所吸取的经验教训，并敦促APS从业者和研究人员合作，提出与APS流程和结果相关的关键实践问题，这些问题可用适当的研究方法进行检验。
