Retirement and nursing homes
doubt whether there had subsequently been consensual or coerced sexual
acts between the two residents. It should be discussed how staff working in
long-term care facilities have to deal with the sexual self-determination of
residents but also with sexually problematic situations. It is inappropriate to
interpret abnormalities that occur after the onset of dementia as a weakness
of character, and not to see psychosocial needs behind them. The incidence of
sexual behavioural disorders during the course of dementia-related changes
can be caused by many factors and is not simply attributable to long-existing
inclinations. Organic changes to the brain or certain types of medication can
be critical in this respect. If the observed hypersexuality is due to comorbidities
or medication administered for the same, the medical treatment shall be
optimised and, if necessary, the medicines used to date replaced by medication
with a better side effect profile.
Based on observations made on two visits to a care centre, which also
included examining anonymous reports, Commission 5 recommended the
regional government of Lower Austria to urgently initiate a comprehensive
organisational process to minimise the number of violent incidents. The NPM
considered it essential to define a comprehensive catalogue of measures in
order to guarantee more adequate nursing and care of the residents (including
training in violence prevention and de-escalation, regular case reviews,
supervision, and drafting of individual crisis intervention plans). The NPM
was informed that the recommendations would be taken up. Advanced
and further education for management and staff focuses on recognising
violence and includes preventive measures with respect to border-violating
and challenging behaviour in gerontopsychiatric illnesses. A general pain
guideline was published with a catalogue of measures for non-medication
therapy forms and assessment instruments drafted for cognitively impaired
residents (ZOPA, Doloplus, BESD), with the implementation thereof scheduled
for autumn 2019. The NPM was also assured that, after adding psychological
experts with external support, the specialised competence will continue
to be increased and team development will be supported. In this way, the
multidisciplinary work should be improved and activity programmes based
on the residents’ needs come into their own.
Complex cause of
violent incidents call
for an organisational
process
The NPM has been recommending the textualisation and implementation of
violence prevention concepts for years. Furthermore, the NPM continuously
points out the necessity for violence prevention training as part of effective deescalation management. Even if a home has a violence prevention concept, it
is not always put into practice. In their interviews, the commissions often hear
that the contents are unknown even to employees who have been working
there for a long time. However, there is now – unlike back in 2012 when the
NPM assumed its work – a growing number of homes that are stepping up
violence prevention training, analysing difficult situations in workshops and
regularly using case studies to discuss the appropriate action. Methods for
dealing with challenging or aggressive behaviour are taught in de-escalation
Violence prevention
concepts
30
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