Doctoral student awarded funding for elder abuse research

Elder abuse is recognized as a continually increasing and serious problem in our society. Skilled-nursing facilities are no exception.

Amber Elkins, M.P.H., doctoral student at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, has been awarded funding from the Texas Census Research Data Center to prepare a proposal to use certain restricted government data with hopes of identifying leverage points for interventions. By simulating through a systems framework how elder abuse by a caregiver occurs in the skilled-nursing facility environment, researchers hope to identify prevention strategies.

Systems science is an emerging area within public health research. Elkins interest in such research has developed through the mentorship of Regents and Distinguished Professor Kenneth McLeroy, Ph.D., and Professor Dennis M. Gorman, Ph.D.