Elder abuse and neglect among rural and urban women

Unlike urban older women, rural older women have inadequate health care and limited access to aging network services. Rural women who are part of dysfunctional family relationships are particularly disadvantaged in that they may not be able to gain access to preventive services due to isolation. Indeed, geographic and social isolation, family obligation, and caregiver stress are deemed leading contributory factors to family violence in rural settings. This study examined six forms of substantiated elder abuse, a form of family violence, among rural and urban women. Chi-square analysis and proportions were used to examine differences between 7,178 rural and 7,614 urban female victims, as were demographic characteristics of abusers. More rural women were represented in physical abuse (chi(2) = 10.906; P =.001), emotional abuse (chi(2) = 25.95 1; P <.001), and deprivation (chi(2) = 3.662; P =.056) categories than urban women. Urban women were represented in the passive neglect category (chi(2) = 8.186; P =.004) than rural women. Approximately 88% of rural women compared to 86% of urban women were willing to accept intervention services following, abuse. Abusers were mostly non-caregivers and off spring with no legal responsibility to the victims. Since elder mistreatment permeates every segment of society, intervention programs should be distributed equitably. (C) 2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.