National Center on Elder Abuse has new location

The federal Administration on Aging (AoA) has awarded a three-year, $2.2 million grant that moves the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) to the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) from the University of California, Irvine.

The center provides technical assistance and training to states and community-based organizations to develop prevention, intervention and response efforts addressing elder abuse. It also conducts research and advocate for policy changes on behalf of older adults.

"One in 10 Americans over age 60 suffer some form of elder abuse. That is 5 million seniors each year," Laura Mosqueda, MD, chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Geriatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and director of the NCEA, said in a statement. "We see elder abuse, neglect and exploitation as one of the most pressing civil rights issues facing our aging society."

Mosqueda and colleagues at the medical school will spearhead the NCEA in collaboration with USC's School of Gerontology, the American Bar Association and other organizations. "We will be the entity others look to when they need state-of-the-art information, and we will be the leaders that push the field forward through education, research, advocacy and other programs to end elder abuse," said Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, MBA, dean of the Keck School of Medicine.

The AoA maintains a website for the NCEA, and the medical school will be creating its own website, too, a university spokeswoman told Long-Term Living.

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Topics: Advocacy