See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil? Underreporting of abuse in care homes

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present some of the findings from an empirical, mixed methods research project that reveal underreporting and active concealment of abuse in private sector care homes. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 36 care home personnel. An anonymously completed questionnaire was also used concurrently among newly appointed staff in newly opened care homes, to elicit additional quantitative and qualitative data. Findings A significant number of respondents reported awareness of acts of abuse that had not been reported within the care home or externally to the authorities. Some respondents were aware that where occurrences of abuse had been reported, no subsequent action was taken, and external authorities were not always involved in responses to abuse. A significant number of respondents were aware of deliberate strategies used to deter reports of abuse to external agencies. Research limitations/implications Though the research draws upon the experiences of only 36 care home personnel through interviews, and 94 questionnaire respondents who had witnessed occurrences of abuse, data suggest that a significant proportion of abuse in care homes remains unreported. Originality/value The research has revealed staffs’ experiences of underreporting of abuse in private sector care homes. Findings indicate that changes are required to current methods of scrutiny of occurrences of abuse in care homes and the strengthening of incentives to report it.

View of relatives on quality of care: narratives on the care for people with visual and intellectual disabilities

“…Therefore, we want to stress that the results of this study do not necessarily give an assessment of the general quality of care for persons who live in sheltered care facilities. Regrettably, poor care and abuse in care homes have been reported (Moore 2016) and may not be visible for relatives. Instead, the above results reflect the idea of what good quality of care in sheltered care facilities should be, according to relatives of persons with visual and intellectual disabilities.…”

The road goes ever on: evidence of the continuing abuse of older people in care homes

“…Some researchers estimate that only one in every four or five cases are reported (Wolf, 2000, p. 7;Bonnie and Wallace, 2003, p. 9;Cooper et al, 2008, p. 1), whilst the World Health Organisation (2008, p. 1) estimate that as few as one in every 15 cases come to light. Some studies have indicated that it is only the most severe and visible occurrences of abuse that are reported from all types of care setting, and that many incidents remain unreported or even actively hidden (Health Select Committee, 2004;Buri et al, 2006;Hussein et al, 2007;Moore, 2016b) and may, in some cases, not even be identified as abuse (Choi, 2000;Bergeron, 2001;Tadd et al, 2011;Moore, 2019a). Research has revealed that under reporting of abuse by victims may occur as a result of a range of factors, confounding studies that seek to quantify its prevalence.…”

“…It has also been determined that care home staff sometimes fear the possible consequences of reporting abuse, including real or perceived occurrences of victimisation, intimidation, ostracism and reprisal from peers or superordinates, including loss of employment (Biggs et al, 1995;Heath, 1996;Hudson Keller, 1996;Eastman, 1998;Jenkins et al, 2000;Garner and Evans, 2000;Kitchen, 2002;Taylor and Dodd, 2003;Carvel, 2009;Moore, 2016b). Further, it has been found that staff sometimes lack the confidence to report abuse, citing both an inability to identify what abuse was sufficiently serious to warrant alerting their managers or the authorities and a belief that their reports of abuse would not make any difference in any case (Skills for Care, 2013, p. 39, 40).…”

Abuse and older lesbian, gay bisexual, and trans (LGBT) people: a commentary and research agenda

“…(EHRC, 2016, p. 37) It is likely that these examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Abuse in care contexts is generally under-reported (Moore and Moore, 2016), and older people from minorities may be even more reluctant to raise concerns: They [older women/women with disabilities] were acutely aware of their lack of power in relation to many of the institutions and individuals on whom they relied for assistance. .…”