Why the definition of elder maltreatment (EM) varies in the field of research and practice?

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With this background and increasing experience in EM programs and research, one can further deduce reasons why EM definitions show variation. First, with important experience and observations from the justice, health, and public health systems, in general there is substantial variation in the natural history of EM, both within and between individuals. Second, the nature and impact of EM usually evolve over time, with changes in severity and in health and social consequences. For example, with progressive exposure to mistreatment, new medical or psychiatric comorbidity may supervene. Definitions that attempt to define stable (static) states may lose utility as EM episodes unfold, including the effects of exposure to legal, social, and clinical interventions. Underlying risk factors, socioeconomic circumstances, and the clinical conditions of both victims and perpetrators may change. Third, definitions may lose their acuity because more than one type of mistreatment may be occurring concurrently within a social dyad or setting.