Elderly Abuse by Nursing Facility Staff Up 10.8 Pct in FY 2016

March 10, 2018

Tokyo- The number of cases of abuse of elderly people by nursing facility staff in Japan rose for the 10th consecutive year to hit an all-time high of 452 in fiscal 2016, up 10.8 pct from the previous year, a welfare ministry survey showed Friday.

In the year that ended in March 2017, the total number of recognized cases of abuse of people aged 65 or over at home or in care facilities, including special elderly nursing homes, increased 2.8 pct to 16,836, also a record high.

Both total and staff abuse figures went up as the elderly population grew and increased social interest in abuse of older people led to rises in consultations with and reports to authorities, the ministry said.

According to the survey results, 16,384 of the total cases were abuse chiefly by family members. There were 25 deaths, all caused by domestic abuse.

On reasons for abuse by nursing facility workers, problems related to education, knowledge and care skills were cited by 66.9 pct, followed by stress and emotional control issues with 24.1 pct.

In the domestic abuse cases, sons accounted for 40.5 pct of the victimizers, husbands 21.5 pct and daughters 17 pct.

Of such cases, 27.4 pct were attributed to family members' fatigue or stress from caregiving, followed by disabilities and illnesses of abusers with 21.3 pct. Jiji Press