Elderly

Background

A veteran night shift employee of an assisted living community physically and sexually abused a female resident for more than two months. The male staff member was assigned to a wing of the community where a majority of the residents suffered from dementia.

The Incident

The staff member in question would enter the resident's room at night and sexually assault her, physically abusing the woman if she resisted. Supervisors reviewed the security camera in the hallway and found the male staff member had entered the woman's room on a nightly basis.

Praesidium's Approach

The organization, shocked that the abuse could occur for so long without detection, asked Praesidium to conduct an onsite risk assessment and staff training. Recommendations from the risk assessment included:

• The organization lacked a standardized system for supervisors to monitor staff and report policy violations. Praesidium was able to develop a random observation plan for checking in on staff as well as a system for reporting violations.

• Staff had not completed abuse prevention training that would help identify changes in residents' behavior or red flag warning signs from their co-workers. Praesidium now provides annual training for staff and volunteers.

• Residents and their families were not given information or training on how to protect themselves or report inappropriate behaviors. Praesidium developed content for the community's manual that was provided to residents on an annual basis.