TY - JOUR
PY - 2021//
TI - Factors associated with staff-to-resident abuse in Norwegian nursing homes: a cross-sectional exploratory study
JO - BMC health services research
A1 - BotngÄrd, Anja
A1 - Eide, Arne Henning
A1 - Mosqueda, Laura
A1 - Blekken, Lene
A1 - Malmedal, Wenche
SP - e244
EP - e244
VL - 21
IS - 1
N2 - BACKGROUND: Elder abuse is a public health problem that is gaining attention due to its serious impacts on people's health and well-being, and it is predicted to increase along with the world's rapidly ageing population. Staff-to-resident abuse in nursing homes is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon associated with multiple factors on different levels of the ecological model. This study aimed to explore individual, relational, and institutional characteristics associated with perpetrated staff-to-resident abuse in nursing homes, using a multilevel hierarchical approach.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional exploratory study of 3693 nursing staff (response rate 60.1%) in 100 randomly selected nursing homes in Norway. We explored the characteristics of nursing staff, their relationship with residents, and institutional features associated with three types of abuse: psychological abuse, physical abuse, and neglect. These were modelled using multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analyses.
RESULTS: Individual staff factors found to be associated with all three types of abuse were 1) being a registered nurse/social educator (OR 1.77-2.49) or licensed practical nurse (OR 1.64-1.92), 2) reporting symptoms of psychological distress (OR 1.44-1.46), 3) intention to leave the job (OR 1.35-1.40), and 4) reporting poor attitudes towards people with dementia (OR 1.02-1.15). Also, staff who reported poorer quality of childhood were more likely to perpetrate neglect (OR 1.14). Relational factors such as care-related conflicts (OR 1.97-2.33) and resident aggression (OR 1.36-2.09) were associated with all three types of abuse. Of institutional factors, lack of support from a manager was associated with perpetrating psychological abuse (OR 1.56).
CONCLUSIONS: We found several predictors of staff-to-resident abuse on different levels of the ecological model, which underlines the importance of using a multifaceted approach to identify risk factors of elder abuse in nursing homes. However, future studies should explore the underlying mechanism and causes with a prospective or qualitative design and target the multifaceted nature of risk factors when designing preventive interventions.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 1472-6963 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06227-4 ID - ref1 ER -