In late 2014, research from Weill Cornell found that nearly 20% of residents in a sample of ten nursing homes in New York were involved in aggressive behavior incidents within the past four weeks. These incidents involved resident to resident aggressive behaviors including:
- Verbal incidents (16%)
- Physical incidents (5.7%)
- Sexual incidents (1.3%)
- Unwelcome entry into another resident’s room/going through another resident’s possessions (10.5%)
In our November 2013 CMSCG Bulletin article, “Allegations of Abuse: The Key to Getting the Details,” we reviewed citations nationally at F-223 Free from Abuse/Involuntary Seclusion and found that 18% of the deficiencies from January 2013-September 2013 involved resident to resident incidents. This is in line with the findings of Dr. Karl Pillemer and Dr. Mark Lachs in the Cornell study.
This week, this research is still receiving news coverage, and the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care and the National Center on Elder Abuse have issued a brochure, “Resident to Resident Mistreatment” that outlines information regarding resident rights and facility responsibilities.
We have requested additional information from Cornell but have not received it yet. If additional information is provided, we will post it in the comments below.
