Scoping study of definitions and instruments measuring vulnerability in older adults

Abstract: It is important to foster social participation and health equity especially for older adults in situations of vulnerability Despite growing interest in the concept of vulnerability there is no consensus regarding how to define or measure it This paper provides an inventory and synthesis of definitions and instruments measuring vulnerability in older adults Using a scoping study framework eight databases Abstracts in Social Gerontology Academic Search Complete AgeLine CINAHL MEDLINE SocINDEX PsycInfo Scopus were searched with relevant keywords Vulnerab AND Concept Defin Meaning Terminology Measurement Assessment Indicator Instrument Scale Questionnaire OR Test AND Aging Ageing Elder Gerontolog Older OR Senior Thirty-one original definitions and five measurement instruments were identified content-analyzed and compared Vulnerability definitions mostly focused on people under conditions that increased their risk of being harmed because of individual physical factors or the social environment Considering these definitions experts in the field of aging including two representing older adults took part in a workshop and a consensus was reached to define a situation of vulnerability as a set of circumstances in which one or more individuals experience at a specific moment in time one or multiple physiological psychological socioeconomic or social difficulties that may interact to increase their risk of being harmed or having coping problems that lead to negative consequences on their life Although none of the measures fully targeted this definition the Perceived Vulnerability Scale PVS was judged best at operationalizing the concept with 22 items considering feelings of vulnerability toward personal and environmental factors it also has good psychometric properties The proposed definition and the PVS help to provide a common language and measure in health and social sciences research policy and practice identifying and reaching older adults in situations of vulnerability and intervening to foster social participation and health equity

L’agression sexuelle envers les aînées : un problème social en mal de reconnaissance

En s’appuyant sur une collection de textes de référence, les auteures présentent un état des connaissances sur les agressions sexuelles envers les personnes aînées et les différentes pratiques (prévention, dépistage et intervention) s’y rapportant. Les agressions sexuelles commises envers les aînées, problème social en croissance dans divers milieux, prennent de multiples formes. Par ailleurs, la réponse des professionnelles et des professionnels de la santé et des services sociaux est teintée de méconnaissance et de non-reconnaissance. La faible quantité de textes réunis, indice du peu d’attention accordé au problème, devrait inciter le milieu de la recherche à acquérir et à développer des connaissances et des pratiques sur le sujet.Based on texts that were gathered together and referenced, the authors present the current state of knowledge on sexual abuse of older adults and various practices (prevention, detection and intervention) related to them. A growing social problem in various settings, sexual abuse on senior women may take different forms. The response from health and social services professionals reflects ignorance and non-recognition. Given that very few texts were gathered together, which is an indication of the limited attention paid to this issue; it provides an incentive to the research community for developing knowledge and practices on the subject.Basándose en una colección de textos planteados y con referencias, este artículo tiene como objetivo presentar el estado del conocimiento sobre la violencia sexual contra las adultas mayores y las diferentes prácticas (prevención, detección e intervención) relacionadas. La violencia sexual contra las mujeres de edad avanzada, un problema social creciente en diversos entornos, toma diferentes formas. La respuesta de los profesionales de la salud y servicios sociales está teñida de la ignorancia y de la falta de reconocimiento. La insuficiencia del corpus de textos recogidos, que se quiere una indicación de la falta de atención al problema, incentiva el desarrollo del conocimiento y de prácticas sobre el tema