PHASE I: APS Administrator Interview Questions 

Interviewee: ____________________________________

State_________________________________

Date of interview: __________________________________

Greeting: Hello, My name is xxx. I am part of a study team that was contracted by the Administration 

for Community Living under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We are conducting a 

study of how opioid misuse affects older adults as well as APS in its attempts to help them. 

The purpose of this interview is to understand your state’s perspectives concerning cases involving opioids. 

We are conducting these interviews at the state level with several states. This interview should take about

45 minutes.

During the interview, I will refer to the word “abuse” by surrogate decision makers and by this, I mean any

types of abuse, neglect or exploitation of a victim by another person, that your agency investigates. I’m

just using “abuse” for short. 

With your permission, our conversation will be tape recorded so that we will be able to capture correctly

your input and ideas. Is that all right with you? 

I expect you would be careful about this anyway, but, once we turn the recording on as we discuss, let’s

avoid referring to anyone by name, be it the victim or any other individual.

If any of my questions are unclear to you, please stop me and ask for clarification. 

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1. Roughly, how many cases of abuse involving opioids would you say that you have handled in the past

year? 

Probe: suggest they just identify whether it is probably less than five, five to 10, or over 10? (Use

groups you would use in your data analysis.)

2. Did it increase or decrease from previous years? Why do you think so? Do you think

COVID-19 affected these numbers? In what way?

3. What are some characteristics of these opioid cases? Type of ANE? Perpetrator? Any particular

conditions or circumstances?

4. Does your state have a policy or set of procedures to follow when cases involve opioid? Please

describe. If no, can you describe how your staff respond to opioid cases?
5. What are the challenges, if any, were encountered in investigating the allegations of abuse of these

cases involving opioids?

6. Was your APS program able to provide any intervention(s) that assisted these victims to achieve

increased safety and relief from continued abuse?

If yes, please describe intervention(s) provided and specifically how intervention(s) assisted the

victims. 

Probe: Did this enable the victims to become safe? Please explain.

If no, what barriers blocked efforts to assist the victims?

7. Overall, do you find that substantiated cases of abuse involving opioids:

• are generally more, less, or equally as difficult to work as other types of allegations? 

Probes: If more difficult, why?

• Is it harder to substantiate these cases?

Probes: If harder, why?

• Do you find that intervening and achieving a positive outcome is harder for these cases?

Probes: If harder, why?

8. When opioids are involved, is abuse, neglect, or exploitation easier to miss than abuse, neglect, or

exploitation when opioids are not involved?

Probe: Why or why not? In what ways? 

9. Are there ways that APS and other agencies should be working with these cases differently when

opioids are involved?

10. What are ways to improve prevention of the abuse of older people when opioids are involved?

11. Do you have recommendations regarding how suspected victims of abuse involving opioids can be

better served or how these cases can be better prevented or handled?

12. Are there any other comments you would like to make about this case, abuse involving opioids in

general, or this study?

13. Do you have any recommendations for further research on abuse involving opioids?