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Grant Project Title: Developing a Better Understanding of a Unique MDT Model:
The Elder Abuse Forensic Center
The University of Southern California (USC), guided by an Advisory Committee and the ACL will, through a two-year collaborative agreement, produce new information on the Elder Abuse Forensic Center (EAFC) model to improve decision-making about EAFC implementation and facilitate replication. Because elder abuse multidisciplinary teams (MDTs), specifically EAFCs, are a potentially important tool to address the growing problem of elder abuse, it is important to understand their essential components, functioning, and outcomes. Building on a strong foundation of EAFC research at USC, the goal of this project is to gather state-of-the art information on the EAFC model that can be used to inform replication and to set an agenda for future research that continues to implement and improve the model.
The objectives are to:
- Convene and receive guidance throughout the project from an Advisory Committee
- Inventory and survey elder abuse MDTs
- Conduct site visits of EAFCs and survey their members
- Develop and disseminate products on the EAFC model
Anticipated outcomes include:
- Increasing the evidence on EAFC’s effectiveness, efficacy, and return on investment
- Improved knowledge about the core components of EAFCs and best practices in model implementation
- Increased ability to identify and measure EAFC outcomes
- Enhanced understanding of the feasibility of wide-spread replication of EAFCs
The expected products are:
- A definition and essential information to replicate an EAFC
- Summary of available evidence on the efficacy, effectiveness, and return on investment of the EAFC model
- A briefing report for dissemination that summarizes the findings and delineates next steps