The sound of silence: evidence of the continuing under reporting of abuse in care homes
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-08-2019-0027 |
| Published date | 04 December 2019 |
| Pages | 35-48 |
| Date | 04 December 2019 |
| Author | Steve Moore |
The sound of silence: evidence of the
continuing under reporting of abuse in
care homes
Steve Moore
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to present findings from two research projects undertaken between
2015 and 2019 that reveal continued underreporting and sometimes active concealment of abuse in private
sector care homes for older people in England.
Design/methodology/approach –An anonymously completed questionnaire was used among newly
appointed staff in 11 newly opened care homes to elicit both quantitative and qualitative data relating to the
reporting of occurrences of abuse within the care homes in which they had previously worked. In total, 391
questionnaires in total were returned, 285 of which indicated that respondents had witnessed the
perpetration of abuse on at least one occasion.
Findings –A significant number of respondents indicated their awareness of acts of abuse that had not been
reported within the care home(s) in which they had worked, or externally to the appropriate authorities. Some
respondents were aware that where occurrences of abuse had been reported within care homes no
subsequent action was taken, or that external authorities were not always involved in responses to abuse.
A significant number of respondents described strategies that had been used to deter reports of abuse to
external agencies and to conceal its occurrence from the statutory regulator and service commissioners.
Research limitations/implications –Though the research draws upon the experiences of only 285
questionnaire respondents who had witnessed episodes of abuse, data suggest that a significant proportion
of abuse in care homes remains unreported.
Originality/value –The research has revealed experiences of continued underreporting and concealment of
abuse among staff in private sector care homes. Findings indicate that a strengthening of incentives and
protections extended to the staff who should report abuse are essential, and that changes to current
methods of external scrutiny to which care homes are subject are required.
Keywords Older people, Abuse, Care homes, Preventing abuse, Safeguarding policy and practice,
Adults at risk, Reporting abuse
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
There is ample evidence that the abuse of older people living in care homes in England remains
both widespread and entrenched (Moore, 2016a, 2018a, 2019a; Cooper et al., 2018; NHS
Digital, 2016, 2017, 2018), though quantifications of its prevalence continue to differ, not least
because the units of analysis employed vary between studies, as do the operational definitions of
what constitutes abuse. However, continually striving to achieve precision when conducting
research into what is now clearly an enduring social problem is essentially futile given that there is
evidence that but a fraction of the abuse that actually occurs in care homes and elsewhere is
reported to the appropriate authorities (Wolf, 2000; Bonnie and Wallace, 2003; Cooper et al.,
2008; World Health Organisation, 2008; Care Quality Commission, 2018), and it is known that in
some circumstances it may be actively concealed (Greve, 2008; Hussein et al., 2007; Moore,
2016b), two confounding variables that are yet to be overcome.
Received 31 August 2019
Revised 25 October 2019
6 November 2019
Accepted 7 November 2019
Steve Moore is an independent
Researcher and Consultant
based in Dudley, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JAP-08-2019-0027 VOL. 22 NO. 1 2020, pp. 35-48, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1466-8203
j
THE JOURNAL OF ADULT PROTECTION
j
PAG E 35
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