Defining Elder Neglect – a New Proposal Towards Uniformity

The aim of this review is to summarize the current knowledge on the theoretical concept of elder neglect (EN), analyze definitions used by researchers and identify their characteristics with the view to consistent understanding of the phenomenon. The literature search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science and CINAHL using keywords associated with elder neglect. Articles published between 1990 and 2020, including a definition of EN, were taken into consideration. From 7,821 articles found in the initial search, 85 relevant studies were selected for the final evaluation. Most frequently, researchers described neglect as a form of elder abuse or mistreatment, within the framework of the official and internationally used definitions. The review demonstrates inconsistency in identification of EN, but common characteristics are possible to identify in its theoretical concepts. The selected conceptual elements allow to develop a new comprehensive definition of EN.