Types and Frequency of Abuse

Mom with her great grand daughter Kara.

I've been trying to write this for days. I've started it three times! Every time I get an answer to a question related to senior abuse in long term care it raises ten more questions. I'm developing the perception that protecting seniors in long term care is a maze of smoke and mirrors. I had no idea how many roadblocks, intentional or otherwise, were in place to keep abuse of seniors out of sight.

Today's post will begin to outline the amount and type of senior abuse in Nova Scotia's long term care facilities. The Protection of Persons in Care (PPIC) division of the Nova Scotia Seniors and Long Term Care department has published data on abuse beginning in fiscal year 2017/2018 up to 2023/24. You can find it here. Scroll down and select the year you wish to view. Protection of Persons In Care investigates allegations of abuse in long term care facilities as authorized by the Protection of Persons In Care Act. They aren't affiliated with the police.

The Act Regulations define abuse as:

                    (a)      the use of physical force resulting in pain, discomfort or injury, including slapping, hitting, beating, burning, rough handling, tying up or binding;

 

                   (b)     mistreatment causing emotional harm, including threatening, intimidating, humiliating, harassing, coercing or restricting from appropriate social contact;

  

                  (c)      the administration, withholding or prescribing of medication for inappropriate purposes. 

                  (d)     sexual contact, activity or behaviour between a service provider and a patient or resident;

 

                   (e)      non-consensual sexual contact, activity or behaviour between patients or residents;

 

                   (f)      the misappropriation or improper or illegal conversion of money or other valuable possessions;

 

                   (g)     failure to provide adequate nutrition, care, medical attention or necessities of life without valid consent.

As you can see, these are serious issues - violence, assault, sexual assault and more. As an example, my mother, who screamed in pain intermittently for days and begged for help, was investigated as a category (g). 

Protection of Persons In Care receives approximately 500 calls per year alleging abuse, investigates approximately 55 cases and confirms abuse in approximately 35 cases. The numbers vary slightly from year to year but aren't trending down. Here is some information from the Protection of Persons In Care data from fiscal year 2017/18 to March, 2024: 

1. The five facilities with the most confirmed cases of abuse are all for profit facilities.

• Shannex's Arbourstone - 12 cases of abuse
• GEM Health's The Admiral Ling Term Care Centre - 10 cases of abuse
• GEM Health's Melville Lodge - 9 cases of abuse
• Shannex's Parkstone Enhanced Care - 8 cases of abuse
• GEM Health's The Mira Nursing Home - 8 cases of abuse

2. There have been approximately 200 confirmed cases of abuse in long term care facilities from 2017/18 to 2023/24.

3. There have been 56 confirmed cases of physical force used against vulnerable long term care facility residents, resulting in pain, discomfort or injury, including slapping, hitting, beating, burning, rough handling, tying up or binding. 

4. There have been 48 confirmed cases of non-consensual sexual contact, i.e. sexual assault between residents in long term care. There have been 4 confirmed cases of sexual contact between residents and service providers in long term care. The definition above doesn't include non-consensual sexual contact between residents and service providers. If anyone knows why please let me know. Presumably is would be a case for police, but then so would many of the other abuses.

5. There have been 45 confirmed cases of failure to provide adequate nutrition, care, medical attention or necessities of life without valid consent.

I also compared the abuse data to the Nova Scotia Nursing Homes and Residential Care Facilities Directory. This enables:

1. Comparing abuse data at for profit and not for profit facilities - as noted above, the five facilities with the most number of abuses are for profit. Many public and not for profit facilities also have repeated confirmed cases of abuse. I'll write more about this in the future.

2. Comparing facility size (number of residents) and frequency of abuse - this is quite striking. I'll dig into it more in a future post.

3. Comparing abuse data at nursing homes vs residential care facilities. Nursing home residents require a higher level of care and are often in much bigger facilities. They are abused at a much higher rate.

My information is approximate and intended to convey trends. I'd welcome anyone checking my information and sending edits if needed. I'm happy to make corrections if mistakes are found. Thank you for reading.