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MDT Guide and Toolkit

Guide To Developing an Elder Abuse Case Review MDT in Your Community

The goal of this guide is to encourage and facilitate the development and growth of elder abuse case review Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs). In this guide, you will find information about MDT structures and functions, along with common issues with which a team will need to grapple in developing a case review MDT. There is no one way to create or maintain a MDT. Therefore, this guide offers a variety of ideas, sample materials, resources and tools intended to guide the development and sustainability of an MDT.

Any community can start an MDT. The form and function of your MDT will depend on the community in which it is developed. It may at times be frustrating as you face obstacles in your community. This guide can assist you in anticipating and planning for challenges and applying the knowledge and experiences of other MDTs to the development of your team.

Currently, the elder abuse MDT approach has received little empirical evaluation, although there are exceptions. However, there are no published studies that provide clear direction on how to create and maintain high-functioning MDTs in any discipline, although work in this direction is burgeoning. Therefore, this guide draws heavily upon MDTs in other disciplines (child abuse, education, business, medicine).

This is a living document designed to be updated with new information, research, and Toolkit items as they become available. When new material is added, we intend to notify our colleagues of changes, as best we can, through email blasts. Check back to our webpage often to view and download the latest materials. You may also sign up to be on our MDT TAC distribution list, by emailing Talitha Guinn-Shaver, MDT Technical Advisor at talitha.j.guinn-shaver@usdoj.gov.

Download the full Guide: 

Developing an Elder Abuse Case Review MDT in Your Community