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UH West Oʻahu Assistant Professor Orlando Garcia-Santiago is spearheading research into elder abuse

The University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu has partnered with the Hawaiʻi Executive Office on Aging in the Hawaiʻi Elderly Abuse Prevention Project to uncover the various issues that older adults, their families and the community face regarding elder abuse and neglect in Hawaiʻi.

The problem of elderly abuse has been recognized as a growing problem in the United States over the past decade with between one and two million Americans age 65 or older having been injured, exploited or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection (National Center on Elder Abuse, 2005). The long-term goal for the HEAPRP is to uncover the various issues that older adults, their families,and the community face regarding elder abuse and neglect in Hawaiʻi, with the aim of developing public policy solutions to resolve this social problem.

This service learning research project is spearheaded by UH West Oʻahu Assistant Professor of Sociology Orlando Garcia-Santiago and will be implemented in two different phases as part of his courses.

Phase one will include the development of a research proposal that covers the conceptualization and definition of the research questions, the writing of a literature review, the design of an appropriate data collection protocol, developing data gathering instruments and data analysis protocols.

Phase two will include a review and implementation of the research proposal produced by the class, including data gathering, analyzes of the data, the writing and discussions of the findings and writing recommendations for public policy in the prevention of abuse among our elderly population.

—This story was reprinted with permission from the University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu’s newsletter West Press

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