Changing systems to address elder abuse: examples from aging services, the courts, the long-term care ombudsman, and the faith community.

The authors describe their use of systems change as a means of ameliorating elder abuse. After assessing the needs of their target audiences, projects developed a variety of strategies. These include disseminating promising practices in courts, creating Elder Law Clinics to assist with conservatorships, educating older adults about predatory mortgage lending, building a new response system for complaints of abuse and neglect in unlicensed care facilities, and convening clergy and lay leader groups to learn how faith communities can make a difference in elder abuse and neglect. The authors share tips on replicating their work, describing barriers to implementation and possible solutions.

Creating large systems that work.

To meet the challenge of underfunding, creative partnerships are being developed to enhance government and nonprofit programs. This article will describe how to build large systems that work to ameliorate elder abuse and neglect. Projects funded through the Archstone Foundation Elder Abuse and Neglect Initiative in California identify key components of system change, the process by which systems have been built to overcome barriers, and lessons learned for replication.