Elder Abuse Prevention Program

The Institute on Aging’s Elder Abuse Prevention Program provides education, outreach, advocacy, and strategic partnerships to prevent and respond to the abuse of older adults and adults with disabilities. We provide presentations to professionals on how to identify, prevent, and report elder abuse. We provide presentations to older adults on how to protect themselves against abuse and scams. In partnership with San Francisco’s Adult Protective Services, Public Guardian's Office, Long-Term Care Ombudsman, District Attorney's Office, and Police Department, we hold twice monthly Elder Abuse Forensic Center meetings to discuss San Francisco’s most difficult-to-solve elder abuse cases. In addition, we convene Elder Abuse Multidisciplinary Team meetings six times a year for members of the public, legal services providers, private professionals, and local senior service programs to learn about resources available to elder abuse victims.

Our programs and services educate and prevent elder abuse by:

Training service providers and older adults on how to detect, prevent, and report elder abuse
Creating public awareness campaigns
Providing expert speakers specializing in:
- - Elder abuse
- - Dependent adult abuse
- - Scams & financial abuse
Coordinating the San Francisco Elder Abuse Forensic Center and Multidisciplinary teams
Advocating for new policies and services
Participating in the San Francisco Family Violence Council

Scam Prevention Flashcards

In partnership with San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services, Institute on Aging's Elder Abuse Prevention department developed the Savvy, Aware, Secure, and Safe (SASS) Elder Abuse Prevention Awareness campaign. These 5 flashcards were developed to highlight 5 of the most common scams to help people spot them and fight back! These flashcards can be used for outreach education and are available to download in English, Spanish and Chinese.

City Visions: Senior Scams and How to Protect Against Fraud

KALW Local Public Radio
November 30, 2015

Listen to Shawna Reeves, Director of Elder Abuse Prevention at the Institute on Aging, contribute to a discussion on senior scams and what older people and their families can do to protect themselves against fraud. Listen here.

White House Justice Forum

June 16, 2015

Institute on Aging participated in the White House Elder Justice Forum. The forum called together 50 experts, researchers, and funders from around the country to share best practices and recommend focus areas for the White House Conference on Aging. For more information click here.

“I’m afraid someone is stealing my neighbor’s money.”