Adult Protective Service (APS) workers assess older adult clients for abuse and neglect and are asked to determine the client’s understanding of the risks they face so they can develop an intervention plan together. Yet, APS workers have little structured training in how to make such judgments. The Interview for Decisional Abilities (IDA 3.0-CA) is a tool designed for use by APS workers to assess the ability of suspected victims to make decisions about risks. With the aim of providing APS the skills needed to utilize this tool, the California IDA team has conducted a series of 2-day training across 30 California counties. In addition, to build the evidence base for the IDA 3.0-CA tool the California IDA team studied the reliability of the tool and is currently conducting a randomized-controlled trial to measure the tools effectiveness to guide interventions. The trial is expected to conclude in July 2019 with projected preliminary results in September 2019.
The project is funded by Administration for Community Living and supported by The California Department of Social Services, The Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, and Weill Cornell Medicine, Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine/ NYC Elder Abuse Center