You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink: how effective is staff training in the prevention of abuse of adults?
| Pages | 297-308 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-03-2017-0008 |
| Date | 09 October 2017 |
| Published date | 09 October 2017 |
| Author | Steve Moore |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Adult protection,Safeguarding,Sociology,Sociology of the family,Abuse |
You can lead a horse to water but you
can’t make it drink: how effective is staff
training in the prevention of abuse of
adults?
Steve Moore
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a research project designed to determine
the qualifications held by those staff who had perpetrated abuse in private sector care and nursing homes for
older people during a 12-month period.
Design/methodology/approach –A self-completion, postal questionnaire was issued to the safeguarding
teams of all local authorities in England with adult social care responsibilities to determine the qualifications
held by staff who were proven to have perpetrated abuse in these facilities.
Findings –Though findings with respect to qualified nurses who had perpetrated abuse when considered in
isolation were inconclusive in numerical terms, the proportion of all nursing and care staff who had
perpetrated abuse, and who held either a professional or vocational qualification was high.
Research limitations/implications –Responses to the postal questionnaire represented 21.8 per cent of
local authorities with social services responsibilities, yet the data secured suggests that care providing staff
who have received recognised training are disproportionately represented among those proven to have
perpetrated abuse.
Originality/value –Findings indicate that recognised training for those who provide care in care and nursing
homes is of limited efficacy in the prevention of abuse.
Keywords Abuse, Policy and practice, Care and nursing homes, Older adults at risk,
Staff training and qualifications, Staff values
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The author of this paper conducted semi-structured interviews from December 2011 to July
2013 with a range of private sector care home staff (n¼36) as part of a PhD research project
supervised by the University of Birmingham. A recurring perception among respondents,
comprising care home proprietors, care managers and care staff, was that qualifications and
training alone do not produce caring staff or caring behaviour. Rather, respondents identified that
it was often the inherent, personal value frameworks held by these staff, and their subsequent
attitudes and behaviours, that tended to influence how they acted towards those in their care,
irrespective of any training they received (Moore, 2017).
Prompted by these assertions from members of all groups of respondents during the research
project, the author subsequently decided to explore if there was any discernible relationship
between staff proven to have perpetrated abuse in private sector care and nursing homes, and
the absence or presence of recognised qualifications among them. Any relationship that might
be determined was perceived to have utility both in terms of supporting or refuting the claims of
interview respondents during the preceding research project and, perhaps more importantly, by
informing future preventative strategies to protect adults at risk. The research was inductive in
Received 3 March 2017
Revised 6 June 2017
12 July 2017
3 August 2017
13 August 2017
Accepted 14 August 2017
Steve Moore is an Independent
Researcher, Practitioner and
Consultant based in
Dudley, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JAP-03-2017-0008 VOL. 19 NO. 5 2017, pp. 297-308, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1466-8203
j
THE JOURNAL OF ADULT PROTECTION
j
PAG E 29 7
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