# Risk Screening & Primary Prevention of Elder Abuse in People Living with Dementia

> **NIH NIH R33** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · 2024 · $1,466,378

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Elder mistreatment (EM) has profound effects on 1 in 10 older Americans, and rates are amongst the highest for
people living with dementia (PLWD). Family caregivers most frequently inflict this harm and are typically
remorseful for their behavior. This proposal will address this societal problem through a novel approach that
identifies care partners/caregivers (CPG) at primary care medical clinics, whether they are there for their own
care or that of the PLWD. During the project’s R61 phase, we will develop and test the feasibility of an evidence-
based brief Risk Assessment Screen (RAS) for use in primary care clinics to screen CPGs of PLWD. A 3-
component intervention will be developed and feasibility-tested. The first component will direct the CPG during
the clinic visit to a website specifically designed to engage them in solution-focused strategies. The second
component will provide 1-3 home or technology-assisted visits with a care navigator who provides person-
centered guidance to facilitate effective caregiving strategies and alerts CPGs to risks of EM. A third component
will educate the clinical care team to address caregiving needs directly with the CPG during the clinic visit and
schedule a follow-up visit within 2 months to monitor for change. We will develop an Outcome Tool that includes
a compilation of validated measures of modifiable risk factors known to be associated with EM by CPGs which
will be used to measure change in risk of EM over time. During the project’s R33 phase, the research team will
conduct a cluster randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of the RAS and the 3-component
intervention. Primary care clinics across Los Angeles County will be randomized to one of the three study arms:
control, RAS only, or RAS plus intervention. Analyses will assess the impact of screening and the intervention
on participants’ level of risk of EM, as well as other outcomes at the level of the CPG and the PLWD. Additionally,
potential harms from the RAS and/or the intervention will be assessed. Finally, we will generate exploratory
qualitative data to improve our understanding of the mechanisms of risk and change that may result from our
application of the RAS and the intervention.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11160194
- **Project number:** 4R33AG078475-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Bonnie Jean Olsen
- **Activity code:** R33 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,466,378
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2022-09-15 → 2027-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11160194

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11160194, Risk Screening & Primary Prevention of Elder Abuse in People Living with Dementia (4R33AG078475-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11160194. Licensed CC0.

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