Create, Lead, or Join a Collaborative Effort

You can make a difference on the local or state level by creating, leading or joining a collaborative effort to address abuse in later life. Some specific examples of collaboration can include:

• Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) or Interdisciplinary Case Review Teams (I-Team) – MDTs or I-Teams utilize the varied backgrounds and expertise of team members to improve responses to individual cases of abuse, to explore the best options and remedies for a case and to coordinate service delivery.
• Coordinated Community Response Teams (CCR) – CCR teams focus on improving the policies, procedures and practices of various agencies to address elder abuse while working to create a seamless response to older survivors.
• Elder Abuse Fatality Review Teams (EA-FRT) – EA-FRTs conduct cross-disciplinary examinations of the causal and contributing factors in an older victim’s death to improve future services to other victims so that they receive appropriate interventions before a fatality occurs.
• Elder Abuse Forensic Centers – Team members work collaborative to review cases of elder abuse and to create action plans. Participants generally include health care providers, adult protective services workers, justice professionals, aging services staff, advocates and others.
• Financial Abuse Specialist Teams (FAST) – FAST teams focus on suspected cases of financial exploitation by bringing together justice professionals, adult protective services workers, aging services staff, and persons who work in financial institutions. Some teams also provide continuing education, community education, and public awareness on financial abuse.
• Sexual Assault Response Teams (SART) – SARTs offer specialized sexual assault intervention services to victims. A SART may also work on increased the reporting of sexual assault and increased convictions.

For more information and resources for professionals working with older survivors and abuse in later life cases, please visit our For Professionals page.

Selected Resource

Response to Elder Abuse: A Self-Assessment Workbook for Coordinated Community Response Teams

This workbook is a tool for a Coordinated Community Response Team to examine its mission, vision and goals to improve its effectiveness.