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The purpose of this paper is to look at concerns about risk/abuse expressed spontaneously by people with dementia (PwD) and their carers in narratives describing their journeys with dementia.

A total of 35 narratives were elicited from PwD, carers of PwD and couples where one partner was living with dementia as part of a study on the impact of producing narratives on PwD and their carers. Participants were found to allude to risk/abuse, or specifically mention thoughts on risk and abuse in their narratives. A secondary analysis of the theme of risk/abuse is reported here.

Concerns about risk/exploitation were often expressed in the narratives, and covered a range of areas including driving, safety in the home, safety outdoors, falls, finances, risk to PwD from others, risk to others from PwD, potential or actual police incidents and neglect.

The narratives were elicited as part of another project and participants were not asked directly about risk; themes reported here were brought up spontaneously by participants.

In relation to dementia a wide range of risk/abuse issues is of concern to PwD and their carers, including driving and financial vulnerabilities. PwD and carers are prepared to talk about risk/abuse when given an opportunity. It is important to investigate and understand experiences and concerns about risk/abuse if they are to be addressed in health and social care practice.

The narratives offer unique insights into the concerns of PwD and family carers.

The purpose of this paper is to review the terminology used to describe family violence involving older adults in order to stimulate a discussion that may assist in the use of a more appropriate and clearer terminology.

Different definitions of terms used to describe violence are considered and the contexts in which they are used. Two cases are described to illustrate the use of overlapping terms, the assumptions that lie behind them and the different actions that they lead to.

The authors argue that legal, relational, health (physical and mental) and social perspectives are all useful and integration contributes to a fuller understanding of violence.

The importance of terminology used to describe family violence involving older adults has been neglected in the past, yet it influences understanding about violent incidents and shapes responses to them.

This study aims to draw together what is known regarding the characteristics and context of adult family violence, and to consider what practitioners and organisations in the UK might learn from the literature.

This study reviews literature on adult family violence and parricide and includes illustrative cases from a study of domestic homicide review reports involving older adults.

Adult family violence most often involves mothers killed by their adult sons. Mental health issues, alcohol/substance misuse and criminality are common themes for perpetrators. Caregiving responsibilities is a theme for both victims and perpetrators. Previous research identified two main categories of adult family homicide: perpetrators with major psychotic illness, and victims-perpetrators in complex relational contexts.

This study considers how practitioners respond to situations of adult family violence and learning for policymakers, agencies and practitioners.

This paper summarises what is known, argues that more research is needed and suggests practical ways forward for policymakers, relevant agencies and practitioners.

The issue of financial abuse is highlighted in the Care Act (2014). One category of financial abuse is consumer fraud or “scams.” Evidence suggests that scams are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, yet how scams impact older adults remains under-researched. The purpose of this paper is to report data from 80 older adults’ written responses to a Mass Observation Archive Directive, commissioned in autumn 2015, which focused on scams.

A qualitative approach was used with data captured via written responses to a set of questions. There was no limit on the length of written accounts, and respondents remained anonymous. Data were analysed thematically, resulting in four key themes.

The data indicated scams impact individuals in terms of health and well-being, irrespective of whether they have experienced financial loss, and trigger implementation of strategies intended to avoid being defrauded. There was also evidence of scam-related stigma with individuals who are defrauded being subject to derision and censure.

Individuals who have been victimised by fraudsters may need access to practical and emotional support. This requires the design of appropriate interventions and the stigma associated with being scammed to be addressed.

This paper adopts an original approach to collecting rich, candid data about an under-researched topic. The authors highlight that anti-scam interventions should equip individuals to identify and avoid scams without inciting fear or anxiety; proposing this may be facilitated by drawing on health and safety risk assessment protocol when designing anti-scam interventions.

There appears to be a recruitment process in which recruits tend to look at people much like themselves, proceed with an uncertain feel for what defines a desirable candidate (while emphasising considerations of personal style over indicators of analytical‐technical competence), and concentrate efforts among those who have received a prestigious degree. Analysis of one American business school's recruiting procedures produces evidence that simply by being admitted to this school students ensure themselves of the opportunity to be considered for “fast track” positions in the corporate world, and, once entered into the contest, compete among themselves on the basis of their ability to convey a personal style in line with prevailing norns of “executive” behaviour at particular companies.

This paper aims to present the findings of research commissioned by a Primary Care Trust in the UK to assess the implementation of a new pilot Human Givens mental health service (HGS) within primary care.

Participating General Practitioners practices were designated as either “Human givens” or “Control” practices. The study focused on service users with mild to moderate depressed mood measured using HADS. The well-being of these participants was examined at the point of referral, and after four, eight and 12 months using three well-being questionnaires.

The results revealed that emotional well-being significantly improved during the first four months following referral for both groups and this improvement was maintained up to and including one year post referral. Compared to the Control group Human givens therapy was found to be of shorter duration, lasting one or two sessions compared to standard treatment which lasted on average four sessions.

Apart from the psychological insight and emotional support, it is suggested that Human givens therapy might help the client to better function in society and maintain a sense of social integration. This has benefits to other providers of social care.

The project described here is the third in a series of cross‐agency (now called community cohesion) explorations involving the development of resources for, and by, people with learning disabilities. (See Healthy eating, Journal of Assistive Technologies Volume 3. Issue 1. March 2008, and Keeping safe, Journal of Assistive Technologies Volume 4. Issue 2. June 2010.) Year 7 students at the Holy Cross secondary girls' school devised a series of simple educational games, for use on an interactive whiteboard, to support the learning of young adult students. The completed resources were then further developed at Lambeth College, and were finally made available for use both by Lambeth College and NHS Kingston's Occupational Therapy Service for people with learning disabilities.

This paper considers the emergence of adult protection as a significant issue for health and welfare professionals. A range of definitions and dilemmas are considered alongside a comprehensive review of how abuse is manifested. A brief review of the latest research is followed by principles of good practice.