Elder abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review

Abstract

Objective  To map the available scientific evidence about elder abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods  This is a scoping review whose research question was “What is the scientific evidence available about elder abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic?”. The selection of studies took place in November 2020, based on searches in the PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus and LILACS databases, Google Scholar consultation and manual search in the reference lists of studies that were part of the sample. Studies published from 2019 to November 2020 were included and there was no language restriction. Analysis took place using the data reduction method.

Results  Twelve articles were included: four (33.3%) reflective studies, two (16.7%) opinion, two (16.7%) letters to the editor, two (16.7%) narrative reviews, one (8.3%) brief note and one (8.3%) editorial. The studies were summarized into six categories of elder abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic: 1) risks for elder abuse in the community; 2) risks for institutionalized elder abuse; 3) conditions that can aggravate the risks; 4) political and organizational actions to fight violence; 5) actions in ILPI to fight violence; 6) professional and social actions to cope with violence.

Conclusion  The evidence available in the literature is from theoretical studies, which discussed the risks of elder abuse in the community and institutionalized, conditions of aggravation of risks and actions for coping. There is a gap in the evidence from empirical studies on the subject.

Aged; Violence; Elder abuse; COVID-19; Pandemics