Independent audit system of elder abuse in nursing homes in Ontario
- Anonymous
- Closed on
- Target:
- Government of Ontario
- Region:
- Canada
This petition is now closed.
Elder abuse pertains to any type of harm inflicted on seniors by a person who occupies a position of trust.
Abuse can be channelled through physical, psychological, sexual, systemic or financial means. Research conducted by the United Way indicates that 4% to 10% of Ontario's seniors experience some type of abuse.
Additionally, 36% of nursing home staff had witnessed the physical abuse of an older adult and 81% had witnessed some form of psychological abuse.
These staggering statistics imply the urgent need to address and remedy the poor quality of care in nursing homes. All health care providers have a professional and social responsibility to protect and foster the wellbeing of older adults in institutions. There is absolutely no justification for such appalling behaviour in nursing homes.
As per the Nursing Homes Act, nursing homes in Ontario are required by law to mandatorily report elder abuse; however there is no way to regulate the concept mandatory reporting. Therefore, to combat the issue of elder abuse, a legislation requiring all nursing homes in Ontario to publicize an annual elder abuse audit through an ombudsman position should be introduced. The legislation should require nursing homes to allocate funding for mandatory annual auditing of elder abuse.
Major changes need to occur in the nursing homes’ environment, in order to stop the repetitive and continuous nature of abusive situations. These changes can be facilitated by the elder abuse audits, as the publicity of the abuse occurring in these institutions will provide the nursing homes with an incentive to improve conditions and eliminate abuse in totality.
The succession of the legislation will also ensure that the residents of Ontario can determine which homes is the best for their loved ones.
We, the undersigned, strongly object to the abuse occurring in nursing homes across Ontario against seniors, as it is a violation of basic human rights.
Therefore we call on to the Government of Ontario to pass a legislation requiring all nursing homes in Ontario to publish an annual elder abuse audit, which in turn will compel the institutions to engage in efforts to improve quality of care and eliminate abuse in totality.
The Independent audit system of elder abuse in nursing homes in Ontario petition to Government of Ontario was written by Anonymous and is in the category Human Rights at GoPetition.