Recognizing, reporting, and responding to abuse, neglect, and self-neglect of vulnerable adults: an evaluation of the re:act adult protection worker basic curriculum.

Abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults are significant problems, the identification and management of which is increasingly being made the legal responsibility of healthcare professionals. In response, some jurisdictions have developed training to assist professionals in these duties. This study evaluates the re:act Adult Protection Worker Basic Curriculum training from British Columbia, Canada. One hundred and fifty-seven participants, 109 training completers and 48 non-completers, answered a survey evaluating their confidence, knowledge, and applied knowledge in identifying, reporting, and investigating cases of suspected abuse, neglect, and self-neglect of vulnerable adults. Comparisons of training completers to non-completers showed significant gains in completers' perceived confidence and knowledge, but no improvement in applied knowledge. The type of healthcare professional being trained and the length of training did not impact learner improvement. The results suggest ways in which both training and evaluation can be improved (e.g., supervised practice) to increase and detect gains in knowledge and practice.