Evidence concerning the incidence and nature of abuse of the elderly comes mainly from North America. We explored the experiences of abuse of older women and caretakers in three European countries and investigated services available to abused older women. Just less than 20% of our sample of women older than the age of 59 had experienced some form of financial, psychological, or physical abuse. Of those mistreated, 24% reported abuse ongoing over years, and 39% reported distressing effects persisting for years. European support services are only beginning to focus on this problem, and further research is needed to define the best practices.
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