Can standardized measures provide helpful feedback about adult protective services substantiation? Pilot data from a short self-neglect assessment

• Published in: Journal of elder abuse & neglect Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 259 - 274
• Main Authors: Liu, Pi-Ju, Stratton, Sara K., Hass, Zachary, Conrad, Kendon J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 01.06.2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; Adult protective services; Aged; APS investigation/substantiation; Case management; Clinical decision making; Communication; consistency; Decision making; Elder Abuse - prevention & control; Evaluation; Female; Formative Feedback; Health Services for the Aged - organization & administration; Humans; Male; Reproducibility of Results; Self-Neglect; self-neglect assessment; Severity of Illness Index; Social Welfare - statistics & numerical data; standardized measure; training; self-neglect assessment; standardized measure; Adult protective services; self-neglect; APS investigation/substantiation; training; consistency
• ISSN: 0894-6566; 1540-4129
• DOI: 10.1080/08946566.2020.1742837

Can standardized assessment contribute to improving Adult Protective Services (APS) practice? In this exploratory study, San Francisco and Napa APS utilized a newly developed short self-neglect assessment to test how standardized measures provide information for substantiation decision making. Findings demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity for the short self-neglect assessment, and analyses revealed important issues that could improve practice. Review of outliers revealed: (1) problems using the assessment tool, (2) misunderstandings of APS procedures, and (3) struggles navigating the case management system. These revelations could all be easily addressed in training. Caseworker's clinical judgment and experience also continue to have a place in complementing the use of the standardized assessment.