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Abuse Prevention
Since 1989, CARIE has been working to provide meaningful, useful abuse prevention education for all long term care staff. With funding from the Retirement Research Foundation, CARIE developed, tested and evaluated an innovative training curriculum that addresses issues that can precipitate abusive behavior and provides proactive, preventive solutions.
The curriculum, entitled, Competence With Compassion™: An Abuse Prevention Training Program for Long Term Care Staff, is designed to be interactive, dynamic and practical. Concepts are presented in a straightforward manner with an emphasis on group discussion and practice. Throughout training, trainees are encouraged to share specific, day-to-day examples of challenging caregiver situations. The group works together to generate possible interventions based upon information acquired from each training module.
Elder abuse takes many forms - physical, sexual, neglect, psychological and financial or material exploitation. The issue of elder abuse and neglect cuts across all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and geographic boundaries. It poses a risk to, or has already exacted a toll on our grandmothers, grandfathers, in-laws, mothers, fathers, spouses and partners, friends, and neighbors. At the same time, abuse and neglect of the elderly takes its toll on employers, employees and colleagues, often increasing stress-levels, limiting attention span and decreasing productivity at work.
Abuse Statistics
Statistics underscore the severity of the problem. According to a congressional study, one in every 25 Americans over the age of 65 is a victim of abuse. In research conducted by Beth Hudson Keller, Director of Education and Training at CARIE, and Dr. Karl Pillemer, Associate Professor at Cornell University, nursing assistants in 10 Philadelphia-area nursing homes self-reported abusive behaviors over a one-month period.
51% reported that they had yelled at a resident in anger
23% had insulted or sworn at a resident
8% had threatened to hit or throw something at a resident
17% had excessively restrained a resident
10% had pushed, grabbed or shoved a resident
2% had slapped a resident
1% had kicked or hit a resident with a fist
Paid caregivers from nursing homes, personal care facilities and home health care agencies are faced with the task of providing the physical mechanics of care as well as the emotional, psychological, social and spiritual needs of vulnerable long-term care consumers. Staff performs these tasks under stressful working conditions, receiving little or no support from supervisors. They may also find themselves the target of abuse from care recipients and family members.
Training Program Objectives
CARIE’s program has three major objectives:
- to increase staff awareness of abuse and neglect and potentially abusive situations
- to equip long-term care professionals with appropriate conflict intervention strategies
- to reduce incidents of abuse and neglect in long-term care settings, thus improving the quality of life for older adults
While CARIE’s program was originally designed to educate nursing home staff, the initial curriculum has now been adapted to address abuse and neglect among older adults in personal care boarding homes, adult day care programs, and those served by home health care workers. The title of CARIE’s training program, Competence With Compassion, reflects the essence of the real challenge in long-term care: to provide efficient care while remaining sensitive; to provide the unhurried attention and care that elders desire and deserve in the face of limited staffing, support, acknowledgement and time.
This dynamic, learner-centered training program empowers participants to meet the challenge of providing quality care to vulnerable older adults. Concepts are presented in a straightforward manner with an emphasis on group discussion and practice. Throughout training, trainees are encouraged to share specific, day-to-day examples of challenging caregiver situations. The group works together to generate possible interventions based upon information acquired from each training module.
Training Topics
Topics addressed in the training curriculum include:
- understanding the phenomenon of elder abuse and neglect
- factors which often result in abuse
- stressors at home and at work
- defining and identifying types of abuse
- identifying financial and/or material exploitation
- indicators of passive and active neglect
- legal and ethical issues concerning the reporting of suspected abuse
- understanding feelings about caregiving
- care recipient stressors
- abuse of staff by care recipients
- conflict management techniques, intervention strategies and application exercise
Participant Comments
Competence With Compassion™ has been received enthusiastically. CARIE has trained thousands of direct care workers. To date, 95% rated the experience as excellent or good and 100% would recommend the training to others in the field. Written comments include:
“This taught you how to accept attitudes of others and how to respond to patients if you’re under stress.”
“This program has reinforced my beliefs that we can ‘make a difference’ when we act with respect and caring.”
“I was inspired to perform to my highest ability.”
For more information, contact Michele Mathes, JD, call 215-545-5728 or visit our CARIE Store.