Study Factors That Affect Abuse of Older People in Nursing Homes

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Study Factors That Affect Abuse of Older People in Nursing Homes

February 12, 2012 Leave a comment Go to comments

Natan, M.B., & Lowenstein, A. (2010). Study factors that affect abuse of older people in nursing homes. Journal of Nursing Management, (17) 8, 20-24.

This article explores the effects of long-term care facility traits on the maltreatment of the elderly. The participants of this quantitative, descriptive study were drawn from staff working at 24 of the 300 long-term nursing homes in Israel. Random sampling was utilized. A single long-term care facility was sampled in each of the four geographical regions determined by the authors’ division of the country. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to a maximum of 10 workers per department in each facility. Five hundred and ten were completed and returned. The questionnaires were designed specifically for this study, and were divided into two parts: the first questionnaire aimed to elicit details about the facility, as well as the professional and demographic details of respondents. The second questionnaire consisted of the Iowa Dependent Adult Abuse Nursing Home Questionnaire (Daly and Jogerst, 2005). Respondents were asked if they had witnessed or perpetrated incidents of maltreatment in the past year. Facility details were examined using records from admissions. Faculty details considered included: number of beds, number of patients, and ownership and type of facility. Data received from nursing administration included number of nurses, number of nursing aids, nurse-patient ratio, and nurse turnover rate.

Analysis was performed utilizing SPSS, version fourteen. There were two dependent variables in this study: the existence of maltreatment, and the various manifestations of maltreatment, such as physical violence, sexual violence, mental neglect, physical neglect, financial exploitation, and mental abuse.

This study indicated that 54% of respondents reported perpetrating one or more types of maltreatment against elderly patients within the past year. Approximately two thirds of the incidents involved physical and mental neglect, the most reported types of maltreatment. High staff turnover was associated with an increased risk of mental or physical neglect.

This study is similar to other studies on domestic violence in that it supports research that physical and mental neglect are the most commonly reported types of maltreatment. This study is different from other research on elderly abuse as it relies on information from not the individual receiving care or family members of the individual, but nursing and nursing aid staff. Although the questionnaires are confidential, respondents may have underreported their involvement in maltreatment of individuals for fear of losing their jobs and/or getting into legal trouble.

This article is relevant to the field of counseling as it addresses the importance of the environment of long-term care and the relationship between the type of long-term care setting and elder abuse. This article is useful to the field of counseling as it provides information about what risk factors, such as high staff turnover rate, may be conducive to an environment susceptible to neglect and abuse.