Introduction
An extensive increase in the amount of elderly citizens living in long term care facilities has become very evident in modern society. This is a result of the growing population of elderly citizens and life expectancy increase rate (Jackson & Hafemeister, 2011). With over fifteen hundred residential care facilities in Canada, elder abuse is a serious problem. It includes physical, emotional, social, financial and sexual abuse. A survey that was conducted from Ontario nurses showed that 42% observed an elderly person being abused in the last three years (Dong, Chen et al, 2013). Elder abuse in the facility can harm the facility itself, and also its victims, whether a staff member is abusing a senior or a senior is abusing another …show more content…
However, most recent data from Statistics Canada reports that the rate of elder abuse increased fourteen percent between 2004 and 2009, and approximately 7,900 cases were reported during this period (Public Health Agency..., 2011). From the victims, approximately 61% were women. This is mainly because, on average, women live longer than men, and as a result are widowed and most likely do not have support to live alone in the community (Dong, Chen et al, 2013). Since most elderly residents are women, they are more susceptible to being abused compared to men (Jackson & Hafemeister, 2011). Studies also show that seniors with physical and mental disabilities have the most risk of being abused (Jackson & Hafemeister, 2011). Abusive actions done by staff members are found to be associated with stress that comes from lack of training, working under poor conditions, having too many responsibilities (Robinson, Saisan et al, 2016), family members with idealistic expectations or inadequate staffing …show more content…
In facilities, residents are grouped together for their own security. This places a lower demand on the staff supervising the residents. However, this causes tension, anxiety, distress and verbal disagreements to build between residents (Burns, 2013). According to Jackson and Hafemeister, victims who did not have a mental disability had an increased risk of 47% to be physically abused compared to a victim who didn’t have a mental disability. Also, the increase in severity of a victim’s health problems increased the risk by 31% to being physically abused. Lastly, if the abuser is an opportunistic type of person, the victim had an increased 25% risk of being physically abused (Forms of abuse, 2015). To solve this issue, the management departments of long term care institutions should not leave residents
An extensive increase in the amount of elderly citizens living in long term care facilities has become very evident in modern society. This is a result of the growing population of elderly citizens and life expectancy increase rate (Jackson & Hafemeister, 2011). With over fifteen hundred residential care facilities in Canada, elder abuse is a serious problem. It includes physical, emotional, social, financial and sexual abuse. A survey that was conducted from Ontario nurses showed that 42% observed an elderly person being abused in the last three years (Dong, Chen et al, 2013). Elder abuse in the facility can harm the facility itself, and also its victims, whether a staff member is abusing a senior or a senior is abusing another …show more content…
However, most recent data from Statistics Canada reports that the rate of elder abuse increased fourteen percent between 2004 and 2009, and approximately 7,900 cases were reported during this period (Public Health Agency..., 2011). From the victims, approximately 61% were women. This is mainly because, on average, women live longer than men, and as a result are widowed and most likely do not have support to live alone in the community (Dong, Chen et al, 2013). Since most elderly residents are women, they are more susceptible to being abused compared to men (Jackson & Hafemeister, 2011). Studies also show that seniors with physical and mental disabilities have the most risk of being abused (Jackson & Hafemeister, 2011). Abusive actions done by staff members are found to be associated with stress that comes from lack of training, working under poor conditions, having too many responsibilities (Robinson, Saisan et al, 2016), family members with idealistic expectations or inadequate staffing …show more content…
In facilities, residents are grouped together for their own security. This places a lower demand on the staff supervising the residents. However, this causes tension, anxiety, distress and verbal disagreements to build between residents (Burns, 2013). According to Jackson and Hafemeister, victims who did not have a mental disability had an increased risk of 47% to be physically abused compared to a victim who didn’t have a mental disability. Also, the increase in severity of a victim’s health problems increased the risk by 31% to being physically abused. Lastly, if the abuser is an opportunistic type of person, the victim had an increased 25% risk of being physically abused (Forms of abuse, 2015). To solve this issue, the management departments of long term care institutions should not leave residents