A Review on the Factors of Elder Abuse and Neglect in Nursing Homes

In recent years, elder abuse has become a common phenomenon as it becomes a sustained interest and concern to the society and an emerging global problem that was identified as an important research agenda for the 21st century climate. A review of the literature demonstrated a gap on the factors contributing to elder abuse and neglect in nursing homes. The need for greater attention to this topic stems from several factors. The aim of this review is to identify the factors of the elder abuse in nursing homes. Review process was employed in this research including inclusion and exclusion. A comprehensive search of multiple database of Science Direct, and health and social care related databases such as SCOPUS were used during the search process. The search was conducted using search terms such as ‘elder abuse’, ‘elder mistreatment’, ‘factor’, ‘causes’, and ‘nursing homes’. It is reported that over 80 of elderly are more likely to be abused in nursing homes compared to elderly who are younger in age. A study observed that older females have a higher tendency to be abused in nursing homes. In several studies, caregiver abuse when providing care to older people with the physical impairments and cognitive tends to be a factor of elder abuse and neglect, especially in Japan and caregivers’ childhood experiences are associated with abuse and neglect due to of trauma from the caregivers. This systematic review highlighted that elderly characteristics and perpetrator characteristics are the factors that cause elderly abuse and neglect in nursing homes.