Elder Abuse Work. Best Practice in Britain and Canada
| Published date | 01 September 2000 |
| Pages | 54-56 |
| Date | 01 September 2000 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14668203200000024 |
| Author | Jonathan Parker |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Sociology |
54 © Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Limited The Journal of Adult Protection Volume 2 Issue 3 • September 2000
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Book review
Elder Abuse Work.
Best Practice in
Britain and Canada
Jacki Pritchard
(editor)
Jessica Kingsley
Publishers, 1999
ISBN 1 85302 704 9 The cover notes for this work state the intention to provide
an exhaustive volume. While this is a tall order for any work,
it is pleasing to note that this edited collection comprises
an extremely wide-ranging compendium of up-to-date
knowledge and practice in the field of elder abuse.
I was left feeling, however, that a need for a comparative
volume that includes work from a wider European perspec-
tive, the USA and Australia is warranted. This is no criticism.
In fact, it points to one of the valuable underlying and
unintentional messages of the book: comparative studies
inculcate good practice and can be transferred across settings
giving due regard to cultural differences. The length of the
present work is sufficient to do justice to practice develop-
ments within Britain and Canada. It highlights, however,
just how much further on are colleagues in Canada and how
much more valued is research and its potential to improve
good practice.
The contributions from the British authors provide a
range of insights into practice developments in certain local
authorities, from medical, legal and police perspectives. The
commitment to improving practice is evident among these
authors. The constructive work being undertaken in Britain
across a variety of disciplines gives heart to those practitioners
dealing on a daily basis with issues of elder abuse and
questions of prevention and protection. The need for rigorous
research into practice that is effective, ethical and feasible
within the contemporary community care and legislative
context stands out. The chapters present smaller scale studies
(see Rowlings and Pritchard), anecdotal evidence and descrip-
tive work that provide a background from which all involved
in and committed to best practice in elder abuse can develop
and expand.
The range of chapters provides a good overview of contem-
porary issues and concerns. It is good to see also that British
practitioners are using their research from their own fields
of practice. The experience of Berkshire is described with a
depth of feeling (see the chapters by Salvesen and Jeifreys, and
Leslie, in particular) that is matched by the stark and human
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