Organizational mistreatment

Any discriminating situation created or tolerated by organizational procedure (private, public or community institutions providing all types of care and services) responsible for providing care or service of all types to older adults.

Violence : Organizational conditions or practices that exclude older adults from decision-making which concerns them, causing the failure to respect older adults’ choice or limits in unjustified way the availability of help programs, etc.

Neglect :Services not adapted to older adults’ needs, absence of or poorly understood instructions on the part of personnel, lack of resources, complex administrative procedures, inadequate training of staff, unmobilized staff, etc.

Signs: Treating the person as a number, provision of care or services according to more or less rigid schedules, undue delays in service delivery, deterioration of the person’s physical – psychological – social health, complaints or reports to diverse instances, etc.

NB: Organisational mistreatment is not limited to the healthcare or social service network. It is important to remain aware of organizational shortcomings that could violate the individual or collective rights of older adults to receive care and services, or that could lead to conditions that negatively affect the work of staff in charge of providing care or services.