Table 1: Barriers to assisting abused elderly people perceived to be fairly or very important by more than 50% of family physicians in Hamilton–Wentworth
Rank	Barrier	% (and no.) of physicians*
1	Family's/patient's denial of elder abuse	78.8  (93/118)
2	Family's/patient's resistance to intervention once elder abuse is identified	72.9  (86/118)
3	Lack of knowledge about where to call for help	72.0  (85/118)
4	Lack of professional protocol related to assessing elder abuse	65.0  (78/120)
5	Lack of professional protocol related to responding to elder abuse	62.5  (75/120)
6	Lack of clear guidelines about confidentiality in elder abuse situations	60.0  (72/120)
7	Fear of reprisal by the abuser toward the elder	59.3  (70/118)
8	Difficulty in determining what constitutes elder abuse	55.9  (66/118)
9	Lack of knowledge about the prevalence of elder abuse	55.8  (67/120)
*Not all physicians rated the importance of all suggested barriers.

[Return to text]