Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Recognizing and managing elder abuse is important to protect the increasing proportion of elderly in our population. Primary care doctors are in an ideal position to engage in early identification, support and referral of persons experiencing elder abuse and neglect. However, doctors may not have adequate knowledge and skills to intervene. We have developed educational material on elder abuse and neglect based on the doctors’ needs. We are going to recruit a group of primary care doctors who will receive this educational material. In this study we will evaluate the effect of receiving this educational material on doctors’ knowledge and practice in the short term and the long term.
Who can participate?
Primary care doctors in Malaysia.
What does the study involve?
We will recruit two groups of primary care doctors. One group will undergo a structured training on elder abuse and neglect intervention. Evaluation prior to the training, immediately after, 3 months and 6 months after the training will allow us to see the effect of training on the participants’ knowledge and practice related to the topic. Another group, the comparison group, will not receive any training but will undergo evaluation at the start of the study and after 6 and 12 months. The comparison group will eventually receive their training after the evaluation is completed.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
All participants will receive a structured educational programme related to elder abuse and neglect intervention. This involves an interactive workshop that includes discussing scenarios of presentations and ways of intervening in elder abuse and neglect. By taking part in this study there are no risks of physical injury or harm to any of the participants.
Where is the study run from?
The intervention group will be from a state in central region and the comparison group will be from another state in the northern region. The study will run in two separate states of Peninsula Malaysia to avoid contamination of information among the primary care doctors. Both states have a similar health system and serve a population with a similar background.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The study started in September 2014 and will run for 5 years or until the required number of participants have been recruited and evaluated.
Who is funding the study?
Grand Challenge Fund of University of Malaya (Malaysia).
Who is the main contact?
Assoc. Prof Dr Sajaratulnisah Othman
sajaratul@ummc.edu.my
Trial website
Contact information
Type
Public
Primary contact
Assoc Professor Dr Sajaratulnisah Othman
ORCID ID
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5786-1299
Contact details
Department of Primary Care Medicine
Faculty of Medicine
University of Malaya
Kuala Lumpur
50603
Malaysia
+60 (0)379492306
sajaratul@ummc.edu.my
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
GC001C-14HTM
Study information
Scientific title
The effect of an educational intervention on primary care doctors' knowledge and practice in detecting and managing elder abuse and neglect
Acronym
Study hypothesis
A structured educational programme for primary care doctors will improve their knowledge and practice in elder abuse and neglect intervention.
Ethics approval
1. University of Malaya Medical Centre, 11/02/2014, ref: 201401-0686
2. Medical Research & Ethics Committee, Ministry of Health Malaysia, 31/07/2014, ref: NMRR-13-1456-16443 (IIR)
Study design
Controlled before and after evaluation study
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Controlled before and after evaluation study
Trial setting
GP practices
Trial type
Other
Patient information sheet
Condition
Elder abuse and neglect
Intervention
We will recruit two groups of primary care doctors. One group will undergo a structured training on elder abuse and neglect intervention. Evaluation prior to the training, immediately after, 6 months and 12 months after the training will allow us to see the effect of training on the participants’ knowledge and practice related to the topic. Another group, the comparison group, will not receive any training but will undergo evaluation at baseline, 3 months and 6 months. The comparison group will eventually receive their training after the evaluation is completed.
Intervention type
Behavioural
Phase
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
Improvement of knowledge and attitude
Timeline of outcome evaluation: before intervention, immediately after intervention, 6 months and 12 months post intervention
Methods used to measure outcome: a self-administered questionnaire assessing participants' knowledge and practice in relation to elder abuse management
Secondary outcome measures
Increase documentation of elder abuse and neglect suspected and confirmed cases
Timeline of outcome evaluation: before intervention, immediately after intervention, 6 months and 12 months post intervention
Methods used to measure outcome: a self-administered questionnaire assessing participants' knowledge and practice in relation to elder abuse management
Overall trial start date
03/06/2014
Overall trial end date
02/06/2019
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
Doctors practicing in primary care setting
Participant type
Health professional
Age group
Adult
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
400
Participant exclusion criteria
Non-practising doctors
Recruitment start date
13/09/2014
Recruitment end date
12/09/2016
Locations
Countries of recruitment
Malaysia
Trial participating centre
Department of Health, Ministry of Health
Malaysia
Sponsor information
Organisation
University of Malaya
Sponsor details
Wellness Research Cluster (WRC)
Level 7
Research Management and Innovation Complex
University Malaya
Kuala Lumpur
50603
Malaysia
+60 (0)379677809
wellnesscluster@um.edu.my
Sponsor type
University/education
Website
Funders
Funder type
University/education
Funder name
University of Malaya Grand Challenge (GC001C-14HTM)
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Funder name
University of Malaya Research Grant (RG468-12HTM)
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
We plan to publishing the protocol and the intervention result.
Intention to publish date
Participant level data
Available on request
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list