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Mistreatment in private seniors’ residences

Themes: Principal researcher

PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER:

Mélanie Couture, Chairholder of the Research Chair on Mistreatment of Older Adults

RESEARCH TEAM:

  • Éric Gagnon, Chercheur d’établissement, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale
  • François Aubry, Professor, École de travail social, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)
  • Martin Gallié, Professor, Département des sciences juridiques, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
  • Julien Simard, Postdoctoral researcher McGill School of Social Work, University of McGill

PARTNERS:

​​Habitations Paul-Pratt

Centre de recherche et d’expertise en gérontologie sociale (CREGÉS)

Rights of Older Adults in Private Seniors’ Residence Committee of the city of Longueuil (Comité droits des ainés en résidences privées de l’agglomération de Longueuil )​

CHAIR PERSONNEL INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT:

Vanessa Daigle, Master’s student in social work

Rosalie Bernard, Undergraduate student in social work

GRANTING AGENCY AND GRANT AMOUNT:

This project is possible thanks to the support from these organizations:

  • Fond Québécois d’initiatives sociales (FQIS) –
  • Centre de transformation du communautaire,
  • Centre de recherche et d’expertise en gérontologie sociale (CREGÉS) du CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal,
  • City of Longueuil,
  • Nathalie Roy, ministre de la Culture et des Communications, députée de Montarville.

 

PROJECT COMPLETION DATES:

2020-2023

ROLE OF THE CHAIR IN THE PROJECT:

Leader of the research project

RESEARCH PROBLEM:

This project comes from a direct need, clearly expressed by the practitioners in the field. As part of their work, the members of the Habitations Paul-Pratt organization and of the Rights of Older Adults in Private Seniors’ Residence Committee of the city of Longueuil (Comité droits des ainées en résidences privées de l’agglomération de Longueuil) are regularly in contact with older tenants who experienced mistreatment situations. It appears that the sense of safety and respect of the individuals’ right of people living in private seniors’ residence (PSR) (private, NPO and housing cooperative) are compromised in certain context. The difficulties experienced by the older tenants and their informal caregivers go beyond the violation of their rights and fraudulently obtaining of funds by managers and employees of the private seniors’ residence, such as psychological mistreatment and ageism. The pandemic context and the containment measures created as well as exacerbated these problems.

Yet, It is rare for older tenants to oppose the abusive demands of managers/employees and they rarely complain in cases of prejudice. This can be explained in part by the intricate and laborious process that tenants must undertake when they want to file a complaint and to the reprisal of managers.

GOAL OF THE PROJECT OR RESEARCH QUESTION:

This project aims to describe:

1) the difficulties experienced by older tenants and their informal caregivers with managers and/or employees of private seniors’ residences ;

2) the undertaken procedures to resolve the situation;

3) the impacts on their lives;

4) promising solutions.

 

OBJECTIVES:

Phase 1: Describe the phenomenon of mistreatment of older adults in a PSR context

  • Provide a portrait of the problems experienced by tenants of private seniors’ residences and the consequences on their lives.
  • Collect testimonies of older adults living in residence and their informal caregivers to highlight the consequences of a lack of resources and services as well as inadequate regulations.
  • Give a voice to tenants and their informal caregivers so they can express their point of views and propose solutions.

 

Phase 2: Co-construction of an awareness raising procedure to mistreatment of older adults in PSR

  • Inform and mobilize the tenants and their relatives about the issues linked to private seniors’ residences.
  • Raise awareness and mobilize community organizations, the elected and the public institutions about these issues.
  • Inform tenants and their relatives about their rights and the available procedures to enforce them.
  • Allow a dialog between tenants and the other practitioners to discuss the situation and ultimately find collective solutions to these problems.

 

Phase 3: Co-construction of a multicomponent intervention

  • Awareness raising of multiple groups to the issues affecting the tenants (knowledge transfer of the results from phase 1)
  • Dissemination of the information and awareness raising on the subject of rights and responsibilities of tenants (Multicomponent intervention from phase 2)
  • Reinforcement of the participation and influence of tenants in taking decisions about housing, in the project concerning them as well as defining services (Participative process)

 

METHODOLOGY:

Phase 1: Describe the phenomenon of mistreatment of older adults in a PSR context

Phase 1 will allow to better understand mistreatment experienced by older tenants living in private seniors’ residence (private, NPO and housing cooperatives) of the agglomération de Longueuil, and this to co-construct an awareness raising approach (phase 2). To fully understand the issue of organizational mistreatment in PSR, two strategies are planned: a review of the scientific literature and interviews with older tenants and PSR that experienced these types of situations. The review aims to describe the different issues and find inspiration in the innovative practices ongoing in Quebec  and worldwide to add to the reflection and support the development of the awareness raising approach. Through 60 minutes individual interviews, about twenty older tenants and twenty PSR (until data saturation) will be invited to talk about their experienced difficulties with PSR managers/ employees, as well as the approach undertaken to resolve the situation. These testimonies will be used to describe the mistreatment problem in PSR in the Agglomération de Longueuil and to facilitate the identification of its underlying causes as well as the issues and dynamics linked to it.

 

Phase 2 : Co-construction of an awareness raising approach to mistreatment of older adults in PSR

 

This awareness raising approach will aim to prevent mistreatment or reduce the negative consequences such as poverty and social exclusion. The method used will be inspired by quality circles from the man the managerial domain and used in Quebec’s health network. The Circle to counter mistreatment will aim to develop an awareness raising approach to mistreatment in PSR by combining the elements from the literature review, the interviews with older tenants and PSR, as well as the experience from the members of the Circle. The latter will be composed from a working group of 8 to 12 persons: 2 to 5 older tenants and PSR, managers and employees of the Habitations Paul-Pratt as well as members of the Comité droits des ainés en résidences privées de l’agglomération de Longueuil (composed, among others, of practitioners from community and health and services network. The group will meet during monthly work meetings of 3 hours).

 

Phase 3 : Co-construction of a  multicomponent intervention

The goal of this phase is to support the Habitations Paul-Pratt et le Comité droits des ainées en résidences privées de l’agglomération de Longueuil in the development of a multicomponent intervention favoring the sense of security of older adults and that their rights are respected.

 

Using the results of the first step coming literature review and the data collection, the working group will identify promising solutions (practical, approaches or tools) aiming to support the different actors in resolving mistreatment situations in private seniors’ residences (community-based and private) to develop a multicomponent intervention taking into account legal and psychosocial aspects. The solutions can be used on different levels: individual, group, organizational, political, societal.

 

The method for the co-construction of the multicomponent intervention will be inspired by quality circles like in phase 2 . The Circle to counter mistreatment will aim to develop and implementing a multicomponent intervention mistreatment in private seniors’ residence by combining the elements from the literature review, interviews with older adults and their informal caregivers, as well as the experience from the members of the Circle to counter mistreatment. The latter will be composed from a working group of 8 to 12 persons: 2 to 5 older tenants and PSR, managers and employees of the Habitations Paul-Pratt as well as members of the Comité droits des ainés en résidences privées de l’agglomération de Longueuil (composed, among others, of practitioners from community and health and services network). Monthly work meetings of 3 hours will allow the choice, the development and implementation in the community of a multicomponent intervention to counter mistreatment in PSR.

PRATICAL IMPACTS

Phase 1:

  • The production of a scientific article and a conference.

Phase 2 :

  • The development of at least to awareness raising tools (e.g. posters, podcasts, etc.)
  • At least eight participants will contribute to the co-construction process including older tenants and PSR.
  • The people that will have consulted the awareness raising tools will better understand the issues surrounding mistreatment in PSR including their impacts.
  • A minimum of ten distinct instances will receive awareness raising tools.

 

Impacts:

  • Increase and promote the access to information to ensure a affordable access to resources, services or support opportunities during mistreatment situations by the development of at least two knowledge transfer tools (e.g. guide, presentations, etc.)
  • Reinforce the abilities on the subject of decision making and responsibilities linked to housing group of disadvantaged tenants by sharing with at least 10 instances the knowledge transfer tools
  • Favor the participation in the decision making and the projects linked to housing involving older tenants in the co-construction process.

The awareness raising posters resulting from the research project are available here :

Poster 1 (Available in French only)

Poster 2 (Available in French only)