Kontakt X:X | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2025.058

Breaking the silence: a qualitative study on older adults' perspectives and lived experiences of elder abuseSocial Sciences in Health - Original article

Miroslava Tokovska ORCID...1, *, Vanessa Nolasco Ferreira ORCID...2, Jana Šolcová ORCID...3, Andrea Seberíni ORCID...4
1 Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Department of Health and Exercise, Oslo, Norway
2 Kristiania University of Applied Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Department of Psychology, Pedagogy and Law, Bergen, Norway
3 Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Faculty of Education, Department of Social Work, Slovak Republic
4 Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Faculty of Economics, Department of Economics, Slovak Republic

Background: Elder abuse represents a significant social and public health challenge in Slovakia, yet little is known about older adults' experiences with this phenomenon.

Objective: This qualitative study examined the perspectives and lived experiences of older adults regarding elder abuse.

Methods: Asynchronous email interviews were conducted with 27 participants (15 female, 12 male) aged 65-81 years from urban and rural Slovakia. Data were collected between September-October 2023 and analyzed using systematic text condensation.

Results: Three main themes emerged: (1) unfamiliarity with sources of help (85% reported lacking knowledge about available services), (2) police as universal authority, help, and protection (89% identified law enforcement as primary protection), and (3) education to raise awareness. Participants described lived experiences with various forms of abuse, particularly financial exploitation and psychological abuse, while highlighting significant gaps in their knowledge of available support.

Conclusion: The findings reveal that older adults in Slovakia have limited awareness of protective services beyond law enforcement, face significant trust barriers in reporting abuse, and express strong desires for targeted educational initiatives.

Keywords: Elder abuse; Financial exploitation; Older adults' perspectives; Psychological abuse; Qualitative research; Slovakia
Grants and funding:

This research was funded by Norway through the Norway Funds under the project: BIN SGS02_2021_002 University Enhancing the Smart Active Ageing.

Conflicts of interest:

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.

Received: April 3, 2025; Revised: August 21, 2025; Accepted: September 22, 2025; Prepublished online: November 26, 2025 

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