Dr Jennifer Storey, Lecturer in the School of Psychology, has received a grant of $24,974.70 from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for her research on elder abuse.
The WHO, as part of its Decade of Healthy Ageing, is increasing its activities related to elder abuse. The primary purpose of this funded project is to construct two global mega-maps: one focusing on the consequences of elder abuse, and one on the risk and protective factors for elder abuse.
Jennifer is the Principle Investigator leading the team with Co-Principle Investigator Dr Michaela Rogers. The team is comprised of collaborators from the UK, Canada, USA and Israel, including Co-Investigators Dr Fiona Campbell, Dr Parveen Ali, and Dr David Burnes, and an advisory board consisting of top experts in the elder abuse field Bridget Penhale, Professor Tova Band-Winterstein, Professor Mark Lachs, and Professor Karl Pillemer. The project will also involve working closely with the WHO and other teams in Canada and China, who are completing mega-maps on other projects.
Storey said: “This project brings the University of Kent into a close working relationship with the WHO and top international scholars in the area of elder abuse, and places Kent at the forefront of research on this important topic, which has direct consequences for the health and longevity of older adults.”
She went on to describe the global impact of this research, and how it will help to identify the consequences of elder abuse, the risk and protective factors for elder abuse, gaps in knowledge to direct future research, strategies to prevent and respond to elder abuse, and help the WHO to form strategies for elder abuse prevention.