This study was undertaken to determine the factors that influence Christchurch general practitioners' (GPs) action taken to deal with elder abuse, what are the barriers to taking action, and what would be or will be helpful for future action to deal with elder abuse. Systematic sampling was used to survey 112 GPs in Christchurch City and suburbs, and the overall respondent rate was 77% in this study. The overwhelming majority of respondents (98.8%) recognised elder abuse and neglect as a social or medical problem, but 66.3% of respondents reported that they had received no educational content on elder abuse and neglect during their former training programme. The results indicate that there is a need to educate both health professionals and the community on elder abuse and neglect, and to provide more support and help for victims and their caregivers. This might include professional training at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, community education, respite care, providing more information for victims or caregivers, strengthening community networks of service agencies for older people, and financial support.--AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT

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