ABSTRACT
Introducción. El maltrato a personas mayores tiene dimensiones todavía no suficientemente exploradas. Una de ellas es el maltrato sufrido por personas mayores que viven en residencias pero cuyo origen no es institucional, sino que es causado por agentes sociales externos al funcionamiento de la residencia. La ausencia de datos a este respecto nos ha llevado a la elaboración del presente trabajo, de índole exploratorio, para evaluar la prevalencia de este maltrato. Material y métodos. Se aplicó el cuestionario Elder Abuse Suspicious Index a 286 sujetos perteneciente a las residencias de personas mayores de la Asociación Mensajeros de la Paz de Murcia. Los casos de sospecha de maltrato fueron confirmados por el equipo de trabajadores sociales. Resultados. Al ingreso, 53 sujetos sufrían algún tipo de maltrato (18,5%), que se redujo a 26 casos tras haber transcurrido un año. Por otro lado, el maltrato apareció tras el ingreso en 20 sujetos (7%), los cuales presentarían lo que hemos denominado en el presente trabajo maltrato no-institucional. El maltrato económico fue el más prevalente, seguido del maltrato psicológico, por negligencia, físico y, finalmente, el sexual. Los datos muestran una relación significativa entre los diferentes tipos de maltrato. Conclusiones. Estas evidencias muestran un escenario que debe ser abordado de manera profesional y social debido al contexto en el que tiene lugar. Los profesionales sanitarios y del ámbito social deben sensibilizarse con esta realidad, informar y formarse de las formas de abordaje para poder dignificar la atención a las personas mayores (AU)
Introduction. Abuse in elderly has dimensions not yet sufficiently explored. Particularly, little is known about the abuse or mistreatment suffered by old people in nursing homes, but where the origin is not, at least initially, institutional, since is perpetrated by external social agents not related to the nursing home. The lack of data in this area has led us to conduct this exploratory study, with the aim of assessing the prevalence of this non-institutional abuse. Material and methods. The Elder Abuse Suspicion Index was administered to a total of 286 subjects belonging to the nursing homes from the «Mensajeros de la Paz» Association of Murcia. Cases of suspected abuse were referred to the social workers to confirm the diagnosis. Results. Initially, 53 subjects (18.5%) suffered any kind of abuse, which was reduced to only 26 cases after one year. On the other hand, abuse appeared after admission in 20 subjects (7%). Precisely, this 7% might present what we called non-institutional abuse. Economic abuse was the most prevalent, followed by psychological, neglect, physical, and sexual abuse. The data showed a significant interaction between the different types of abuse. Conclusions. Our data provides evidence of a new scenario that must be addressed in a professional and social context, considering the environment where this mistreatment takes place. Health and social professionals must be sensitive to this reality, and should be informed and trained about the different ways to dignify the care of the elderly (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Elder Abuse/psychology , Elder Abuse/statistics & numerical data , Nursing Homes/standards , Nursing Homes , Social Workers/psychology , Social Workers/statistics & numerical data , Surveys and Questionnaires , Retrospective Studies , Logistic ModelsABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Abuse in elderly has dimensions not yet sufficiently explored. Particularly, little is known about the abuse or mistreatment suffered by old people in nursing homes, but where the origin is not, at least initially, institutional, since is perpetrated by external social agents not related to the nursing home. The lack of data in this area has led us to conduct this exploratory study, with the aim of assessing the prevalence of this non-institutional abuse. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Elder Abuse Suspicion Index was administered to a total of 286 subjects belonging to the nursing homes from the «Mensajeros de la Paz¼ Association of Murcia. Cases of suspected abuse were referred to the social workers to confirm the diagnosis. RESULTS: Initially, 53 subjects (18.5%) suffered any kind of abuse, which was reduced to only 26 cases after one year. On the other hand, abuse appeared after admission in 20 subjects (7%). Precisely, this 7% might present what we called non-institutional abuse. Economic abuse was the most prevalent, followed by psychological, neglect, physical, and sexual abuse. The data showed a significant interaction between the different types of abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Our data provides evidence of a new scenario that must be addressed in a professional and social context, considering the environment where this mistreatment takes place. Health and social professionals must be sensitive to this reality, and should be informed and trained about the different ways to dignify the care of the elderly.
