Abstract
Many types of older adult mistreatment exist in long-term care (LTC) facilities: psychological, physical, sexual, financial, violation of rights, organisational, and ageism. Close to 20% of LTC establishments in the United States are “convicted” of older adult mistreatment each year. In Canada, the problem is also acknowledged by managers and administrators of these types of facilities. However, few studies have described the experience of diverse stakeholders regarding the management of older adult mistreatment situations within LTC facilities. As part of a project using a participative approach to develop and validate a policy template for LTC facilities, 105 key stakeholders (including administrators, managers, long-term care employees, residents/user committees, union representative, complaint commissioners, etc.) were surveyed about the perceived causes, the main difficulties encountered and priorities to address older adult mistreatment in their LTC establishment. The main issues identified were: 1) disparity between the ever-growing needs of residents and the lack of resources; 2) limited knowledge regarding older adult mistreatment and how to identify it properly; 3) a conspiracy of silence and a fear of reporting; 3) non-existent or unclear policies and procedures; as well as 4) no specific person mandated within the facility to respond to mistreatment situations administratively or clinically. Overall, the issues identified by the stakeholders could be addressed with additional training and the implementation of policies and procedures specifically adapted for LTC facilities.