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This qualitative study set within Northern Ireland aims to explore professional perspectives on the application of evidence-informed practice to the adult safeguarding threshold screening process.

Data was gathered from seven social workers in one health and social care trust area, who perform the designated adult protection role, through individual semi-structured interviews in one region of Northern Ireland. The interview schedule comprised of a series of questions examining the role of the designated adult protection officer and included three vignettes (Appendix). A thematic analysis was undertaken using NVIVO software.

This paper reports main findings under the themes of: the role of the designated adult protection officer, threshold decision-making, evidence-informed practice and service improvement. One of the main findings was that professionals viewed the current process as too bureaucratic, and there was a desire to engage in more preventive safeguarding in collaboration with service users. There was a need to promote awareness of evidence-informed practice as it applies to the threshold screening process. Furthermore, the study raised the question of the need to consider the application of models or methods of assessment to the threshold screening process.

This in-depth exploration of the role of designated adult protection officers in Northern Ireland provides a valuable insight into the complexity involved in managing adult safeguarding referrals and investigations. This study adds to the existing knowledge base, identifies potential service improvements and highlights the gap in evidence-based practice as it applies to the threshold screening process. Threshold screening of adult safeguarding referrals remains a subjective process and is open to interpretation and differences in professional judgement. The study highlights the need to consider the application of quality improvement methodology to the threshold screening assessment and the need to promote the exchange of safeguarding knowledge.

This research was conducted as part of a PhD study. The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors taken into consideration when multi-agency practitioners were considering financial harm in the context of adult protection and how this influenced their decision-making processes.

An adapted q sort methodology initially established the areas of financial harm considered to have additional factors, which led to complexity in adult protection decision making. These factors were further explored in individual interviews or focus groups.

The data identified that the decision-making process varied between thorough analysis, rationality and heuristics with evidence of cue recognition, factor weighting and causal thinking. This highlighted the relevance of Kahneman’s (2011) dual processing model in social work practice. Errors that occurred through an over reliance on System 1 thinking can be identified and rectified through the use of System 2 thinking and strengthen social work decision-making.

This paper considers the practice of multi-agency adult protection work in relation to financial harm and identifies the influences on decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the creation of safe academic (education and research) environments that offer proper protections to adult academics and staff, so that academia and society at large may benefit from the fruits of safe workplaces. Not all academic environments are entirely safe, and there are recorded cases of victims of harassment and sexual abuse.

Given that co-workers in a laboratory, or research subjects in a research project, may be victims of harassment or sexual abuse, and that the same individuals may then become co-authors or anonymized research subjects, respectively, in academic papers, there is a need to appreciate what structural protection exists for such victims at the post-publication level. What should academia do with the literature of legally recognized sex offenders who have published in peer-reviewed and indexed academic journals?

Currently, there is no specific guidance by ethics organizations (e.g., Committee on Publication Ethics and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) to deal with this issue, so protective mechanisms for adult victims, as well as punitive measures against perpetrators at the post-publication stage, are needed.

There may be career-altering repercussions – personal, professional and reputational – for co-authors of legally recognized sex offenders in papers published in peer-reviewed and indexed journals. There may also be life-altering outcomes to victims of sexual abuse who are the study subjects of such papers. Thus, a robust form of post-publication protection (and justice) based on unbiased and independent ethical and legal investigations, coordinated by editors, publishers and research institutes, needs to be established.

The purpose of this paper is to update the core data set of self-neglect safeguarding adult reviews (SARs) and accompanying thematic analysis. The initial data set was published in this journal in 2015 and has since been updated annually. The complete data set is available from the author. The second purpose is to reflect on the narratives about adult safeguarding and self-neglect by focusing on the stories that are told and untold in the reviews.

Further published reviews are added to the core data set, drawn from the national SAR library and the websites of Safeguarding Adults Boards (SABs). Thematic analysis is updated using the domains used previously, direct work, the team around the person, organisational support and governance. SAR findings and recommendations are also critiqued using three further domains: knowledge production, explanation and aesthetics.

Familiar findings emerge from the thematic analysis and reinforce the evidence-base of good practice with individuals who self-neglect and for policies and procedures with which to support those practitioners working with such cases. SAR findings emphasise the knowledge domain, namely, what is actually found, rather than the explanatory domain that seeks to answer the question “why?” Findings and recommendations appear to assume that learning can be implemented within the existing architecture of services rather than challenging taken-for-granted assumptions about the context within which adult safeguarding is situated.

A national database of reviews completed by SABs has been established (www.nationalnetwork.org.uk), but this data set remains incomplete. Drawing together the findings from the reviews nonetheless reinforces what is known about the components of effective practice, and effective policy and organisational arrangements for practice. Although individual reviews might comment on good practice alongside shortfalls, there is little analysis that seeks to explain rather than just report findings.

Answering the question “why?” remains a significant challenge for SARs, where concerns about how agencies worked together prompted review but also where positive outcomes have been achieved. The findings confirm the relevance of the evidence-base for effective practice, but SARs are limited in their analysis of what enables and what obstructs the components of best practice. The challenge for SAR authors and for partners within SABs is to reflect on the stories that are told and those that remain untold or untellable. This is an exercise of power and of ethical and political decision-making.

The paper extends the thematic analysis of available reviews that focus on work with adults who self-neglect, further reinforcing the evidence base for practice. The paper analyses the degree to which SARs answer the question “why?” as opposed simply to answering the question “what?” It also explores the degree to which SARs appear to accept or challenge the context for adult safeguarding. The paper suggests that SABs and SAR authors should focus explicitly on what enables and what obstructs the realisation of best practice, and on the choices they make about the stories that are told.

This paper aims to present commentary on adult safeguarding designated officers’ (nominated senior staff members in the Health Service Executive and its funded services) in Ireland readiness for online learning and their perception of the blended approach used in their training and considers the implications of this for practice.

In total, 233 designated officers were surveyed. A self-administered online survey comprising of two instruments was used. The questionnaire combines two previously validated tools measuring readiness for online learning and perceptions of blended learning. Minor modifications were made to account for local circumstance and language. Demographic questions relevant to the survey population were added. The response rate was 49%.

Designated officers regarded specified competencies for online learning as important to very important with highest importance placed in time management. Designated officers expressed they were confident to very confident in their ability to accomplish all competencies in online learning. The highest confidence was in the technical competencies. Designated officers are demonstrating high readiness for online learning. Designated officers reported positively on online contributions and on blended learning workload. The scores indicate positive perceptions of the blended learning experience. Responses to an open-ended question were largely positive with some suggestions for improvement made.

Findings have helped inform planning and development of the Health Service Executive’s adult safeguarding training for designated officers with changes made since this survey was undertaken.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first time a survey was undertaken of designated officers in Ireland with a view to improving safeguarding training. Recommendations for adaptions to the blended designated officer programme were proposed and subsequently accepted and implemented.

Institutional abuse is a worldwide phenomenon with the UK also subject to several high-profile abuse scandals perpetuated on people with learning disabilities and/or mental health conditions living within institutional settings. This study aims to provide a broad perspective of safeguarding practices within institutional care to inform practice and service development in this area.

A narrative overview was undertaken of a range of empirical evidence, discussion papers, enquiry reports, reports from regulatory bodies and professional guidance to explore safeguarding practices within institutional care for individuals with learning disabilities and/or mental health conditions.

A range of literature was identified that exposed and explored abuse in this context. Three key themes were identified: failings within institutional care; safeguarding issues and concerns; and good practice within institutional care. Whilst guidance is available, standards are explicit and protocols facilitate improvement potential in this area, a consistent message was that statutory recommendations for reform have not been effective.

This paper provides an important resource for practitioners and service providers involved in institutional care. An accessible overview of both the empirical evidence and grey literature on adult safeguarding within institutional settings is provided, along with a range of standards and resources that specify practice in these settings.

This paper aims to explore the links between being lonely and isolated, and increased risks of abuse for adults with care and support needs.

Thematic analysis was used to explore features of loneliness and social isolation present in South Yorkshire Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) published since 2014.

Ten out of fifteen SARs indicated there had been issues of loneliness and/or social isolation for the person who was the subject of the SAR.

The limitations of this paper are that it only included SARs from the South Yorkshire area. Future research should explore national and international perspectives on these issues.

Safeguarding Boards should include actions to address loneliness and social isolation as part of prevention strategies and services to develop approaches that can minimise or prevent abuse before it occurs. Practitioners should routinely explore whether the people they work with feel lonely and/or isolated and support people to take appropriate action to mitigate these risks.

This paper uses the existing body of literature about loneliness and social isolation to explore the risks of abuse and neglect for adults with care and support needs.

The world population over the age of 60 is expected to increase from 900 million in 2015 to two billion by 2050. Retirement homes have emerged as a prominent housing alternative and become a trend for the older adults; however, older population in Malaysia could have a negative view of retirement homes. Different generations could have different perceptions of the value of retirement homes. This study aims to explore the value of retirement homes across diverse age cohorts in Malaysia.

A qualitative approach is adopted for this study. Thematic analysis is used to analyse the interview transcripts obtained from semi-structured interviews.

The results indicated that baby boomers tend to have more negative values towards retirement homes, whereas Generations X and Y demonstrated more favourable and positive values for retirement homes.

This study serves as a useful reference for housing developers, policymakers and the management of retirement homes to better understand how different age cohorts value retirement homes, thereby encouraging relevant housing strategies to enhance the quality and support systems of retirement homes in society.

Our understanding of what intervention strategies are effective in improving the well-being of older adults experiencing elder abuse and self-neglect (EASN) is severely limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a method called “teaming,” a wraparound approach to provide enhanced social support to older adults experiencing EASN. A teaming intervention was administered by advocates in Maine, USA, as a component of a larger community-based EASN intervention, Repair harm, Inspire change, Support connection, Empower choice (RISE), implemented to complement adult protective services.

Qualitative interviews and a focus group were conducted with RISE advocates (n = 4). A descriptive phenomenological approach involving two independent assessors was used to code transcripts into themes and subthemes.

Three domains were identified: (1) team and support forming process, which describes the development of a supportive network based on each client’s needs; (2) techniques, which refers to the specific strategies advocates use to promote collectivity and shared responsibility around the client; and (3) implementation challenges, which discusses the difficulties advocates encounter when using teaming with people experiencing EASN.

This study represents the first in-depth exploration of teaming in the context of EASN intervention. Preliminary findings on the experiences of advocates suggest that teaming is a beneficial approach to support the individualized needs of each client, and to promote improved and sustainable case outcomes for clients.

The purpose of this paper is to consider what safeguarding responses to discriminatory abuse and hate crime might learn from existing research on restorative justice and to drive practice development based on available evidence.

This paper is based on a scoping review of literature using four academic databases and reference harvesting. This comprised a critical appraisal of 30 articles, which were thematically analysed to appreciate the benefits and challenges of restorative justice responses to hate crime and how this might inform safeguarding responses to discriminatory abuse and hate crime.

The analysis identifies four domains where learning can be drawn. These relate to theory on restorative justice; restorative justice practices; perspectives from lived experience of restorative justice and hate crime; and an appraisal of critiques about restorative justice.

This paper connects the emerging evidence on restorative criminal justice responses to hate crime to the “turn” towards strengths-based practices in adult safeguarding. Although this provides a fertile environment for embedding restorative practices, the authors argue certain precautions are required based on evidence from existing research on hate crime and restorative justice.